FEBRUARY 2012
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
£4.95 • ISSUE 32
French farmer Christophe Masle struck gold with his very first mare:
Fatima III, the dam of the brilliant Sprinter Sacre
www.internationalthoroughbred.net
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND ROCK OF GIBRALTAR HURRICANE RUN EXCELLENT ART HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR STRATEGIC PRINCE
5 individual Group winners in 2011 8 individual Group winners in 2011 10 individual first crop 3YO SW’s in 2011 More Stakes horses than any other first crop sire in 2011 Champion 2YO sire in 2011 Sire of a first crop 2YO Group 1 winner in 2011
Fee: €10,000 Fee: €17,500 Fee: €12,500 Fee: €10,000 Fee: €12,500 Fee: €6,000
Murphy's Law
Lissa Oliver meets BIg Zeb's talented trainer
Spotlight on:
Meeting McCoy
Festival focus National Hunt stallions
by student journalist Tim Williams
Frankel remains unbeaten in the St James's Palace Stakes
Races from 1
• ALFRED NOBEL • CANFORD CLIFFS • DANEHILL DANCER • DUKE OF MARMALADE • DYLAN THOMAS • EXCELLENT ART • FASTNET ROCK • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • HIGH CHAPARRAL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR • • HURRICANE RUN • MASTERCRAFTSMAN • MONTJEU • PEINTRE CELEBRE • POUR MOI • RIP VAN WINKLE • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • STARSPANGLEDBANNER • STRATEGIC PRINCE • THEWAYYOUARE • YEATS • ZOFFANY • Contact: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: 353-52-6131382. Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars, Jason Walsh or Sebastian Hutch. Tom Gaffney, David Magnier, Joe Hernon or Cathal Murphy: 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.
NH issue: we profile the movers and shakers in National Hunt racing ahead of four days of top-class action at Cheltenham
LE HAVRE
bay 2006, 16.1 hh, by Noverre ex Mar ie Rheinberg
• Winner of 2009 Group 1 French Derby... ...in a faster time than SHAMARDAL and LOPE DE VEGA
• €100,000 bonus to the owner of his first Group winner Fee: €5,000 live foal
His 1st Crop Foals in 2011 have been bought by some excellent judges...
“The LE HAVRE filly I have bought at the Osarus “This is a very nice colt. I have seen a couple of foals by LE HAVRE and they are very nice...”
MARGARET O’TOOLE – JDG 3/12/2011
sales is very nice and moves well. I don’t know yet if I will re-sale her next year but if I don’t, I would have no problem to race her myself ! ” CON MARNANE – JDG 2/11/2011
LA CAUVINIÈRE SYLVAIN VIDAL harascauviniere@aol.com • +33 (0)6 20 99 10 15
MATHIEU ALEX +33 (0)6 26 59 19 18 • malex@lacauviniere.com
Haras de la Cauvinière • Notre Dame de Courson • 14140 Livarot • France +33 (0)2 31 31 48 78 • www.lacauviniere.com
COCKNEY REBEL 2004 Bay 16.1 h.h. by Val Royal - Factice (Known Fact)
34% winners to runners British Second Crop Sires 2012 In order of Races Won Rank 1. 2. 3.
Stallion Rnrs DUTCH ART 58 SIR PERCY 32 COCKNEY REBEL 32 THREE VALLEYS 53
Wnrs 34 11 11 14
% Wnrs/Rnrs 59 34 34 26
(Statistics by Hyperion to 12.02.12)
Two time winner REBELLIOUS GUEST (by Cockney Rebel), seen here winning Conditions Stakes.
Yearlings 2011 Very correct, athletic and extremely good movers. Made up to 14 times his advertised fee in 2009 and sold for 80,000 Gns, £65,000, 54,000 Gns, £35,000, 33,000 Gns, 31,000 Gns, 30,000 Gns, etc.
Classic Entries 2012 COCKNEY DANCER - Irish 1,000 Guineas Gr.1 (right) FIRESTARTER - Epsom Derby Gr.1
Fee 2012: £4,000 Oct.1st NFNF
Winner on debut COCKNEY DANCER (by Cockney Rebel), winning her maiden.
He’ll Make You Smile! Standing at The National Stud, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 0XE. Tel: 00 44 (0)1638 663464, Fax: 00 44 (0)1638 665173, Email: stallions@nationalstud.co.uk, www.nationalstud.co.uk
contents february/march 9
The first word
The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that a meeting between Frankel and Black Caviar represents can’t be ignored
12 The guest speaker
Italian amateur jockey Laura Dell’Elce discusses the problems and strike action currently affecting horseracing in Italy
14 The news
RIP Josh Gifford, Japanese interests purchase more top racemares, the South African yearling sale goes well and Huntingdon eats “duck tongues” when racing at Sha Tin
20 England v Ireland
Sue Montgomery looks ahead to the annual battle of nations at The Festival
26 A stallion monopoly
John Sparkman sees Bernardini beginning to dominate in the US
34 Inter the future
Part one looks at the growing use and development of the internet by Tattersalls, Goffs/DBS and Fasig-Tipton
68 Southern-hemisphere news
The Karaka yearling sale in New Zealand produced satisfying results, and leading sire More Than Ready looks as though he will be well represented in the Golden Slipper again
With pedigree profiles by Weatherbys
6
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Lissa Oliver meets Irish trainer Colm Murphy, who is proving himself adept at producing his horses just right for The Festival
26519_Re alValue_ Int/T/Br ed_Pg_Fe b/Mar'12 :26519_R ealValue _Int/T/B red_Pg_F eb/Mar'1 2
88 Q and A
With Dairy House Stud
14/02/20 12
16:19
Page
1
44 Sprinting to success
Fatima III was the first mare bought by farmer Christophe Masle. She is now the dam of the exciting Sprinter Sacre. Sally Grassick finds out more
FEBRUA
RY/MA RCH
£4.95
FOOTSTEP SIN ROCK OF GIB THESAND 5 individu al Group win ners in 201 HURRICANE RALTAR 8 individual 1 RUN Group winner EXCELLENT s in 2011 10 individu Fee: €10,0 AR al first crop 00 3YO SW’s HOLY ROMA T More Stakes Fee: €17,5 in 2011 N 00 STRATEGIC EMPEROR Champion horses than any other firs Fee: €12,5 t crop sire 2YO sire in PRINCE 00 in 201 201 1 1 Fee Sire
48 The Italian-bred champion hurdler
Hurricane Fly, though possessing an Irish suffix, was bred by the Italian Cainani family of a first crop
2YO Group
1 winner in
2011
: €10,000 Fee: €12,5 00 Fee: €6,00 0
• ALFRED NOBEL • CANFORD • HURRI Contact: Coolm CANE RUN • MASTECLIFFS • DANEHILL DANCE RCRAFTSMAN ore Stud, Fethard R • DUKE Tom Gaffne , Co. Tipperary, Ireland • MONTJEU • PEINTR OF MARMALADE • DYLAN y, David Magnie E CELEB . THOMAS • EXCELLENT r, Joe HernonTel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: RE • POUR MOI • RIP VAN ART • FASTN or Cathal Murphy 353-52 : 353-25-31966-6131382. Christy GrassicWINKLE • ROCK OF GIBRAL ET ROCK • FOOTS ITB_fe b_finalcover TEPSIN /31689. Kevin TAR • STARSP k, _new.indd Buckley (UK David O’Loughlin, Eddie ANGLEDBANNTHESAND • GALILEO 1 Rep.) 44-782 • HIGH CHAPA Fitzpatrick, ER • STRAT Tim 7-795156. E-mail: sales@Corballis, Maurice MoloneEGIC PRINCE • THEWA RRAL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR • YYOUARE • coolmore.ie y, Gerry Aherne YEATS • Web site: www.c , oolmore.comMathieu Legars, Jason ZOFFANY • Walsh All stallions nominated to or Sebastian Hutch. EBF.
52 Change at the top table
The top of the sires’ chart currently looks a little different with Presenting deposed and Beneficial vying for top honours with King’s Theatre
2012
• ISSU E
Murphy's Law
Lissa Oliver meets BIg Zeb 's
talented train er
Meeting M cCoy
by student
Spotlight on:
journalist Tim Williams
Festival fo cus National Hu nt stallions
1
86 The database
Katherine Fidler profiles the upwardly mobile NH stallion, Beneficial
40 Murphy’s law
Races from
Vino Veritas, the dam of the Val Royal colt Slim Shadey, recent winner of the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes
64 Moving on up
bred.net
81 Mare of the month
What has happened to the NH horses? asks Victor Sheahan
althorough
A stallion’s weight should be kept at an optimum through the covering season, says Dr Clarissa Brown-Douglas
62 The stats man
Tim Williams, a student at Oxford, interviews Tony McCoy and gives an insight to a student’s perception of horseracing
www.inter nation
77 Feeding the stallion
28 Meeting McCoy
2012
Darryl Sherer meets John Thompson of Rich Hill Stud, home to stallions Peintre, Any Suggestion, Shocking and the shuttle base for Sir Percy
NH focus
FEBRUARY
72 A Rich vein of form
28
Frankel rem ains unbeat en in the St
NH issue:
we profile
French far
struck gold mer Christophe
James's Pal ace
Stakes
movers and shakers of National Hunt raci ng ahead
Fatima III, the with his very firs Masle t dam of the brilliant Spri mare: nter Sacre
of four day s of top-cla ss action
at Chelten ham 22/2/12
the cover Cheltenham by Trevor Jones
11:22:58
32
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contents february/march
40
48
44
62
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This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in whole or part without permission of the publisher. The views expressed in International Thoroughbred are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. While every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content herein, or any consequences arising from them.
the team
the photographers
editor sally duckett publisher declan rickatson photography trevor jones design thoroughbred publishing
thoroughbred photography press association peter mooney
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the writers paul haigh sue montgomery sally duckett john sparkman ted voute william huntingdon alan porter laura dell’elce sally grassick dr carlo zuccoli victor sheahan lissa oliver tim williams katherine fidler darryl sherer dr clarissa brown-douglas
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the foreword
Once in a lifetime...
If Black Caviar met Frankel in the Queen Anne Stakes in Diamond Jubilee year, it could be one of the greatest moments ever in sports history, says Paul Haigh
G
reat sporting confrontations don’t happen by accident. Or rather, just a minute… Yes they do. Sheer luck is the most important requirement. What’s needed above all is the colossal, inexplicable coincidence of the arrival of two giants in the same field at the same time. They must have near equal reputations. They Will we ever get to see these two giants go head to head in battle? Or will they only get to meet in the covering barn?
must have huge fan bases whose members can hardly imagine, let alone believe, that their champion might be inferior to any other. They must be free of, indeed apparently immune to, any physical weakness that might affect their performance. Only then can the impresarios get to work and bring the titans together for what they always call “the showdown the whole world wants to see.” When they occur the whole sporting
world focuses. We can’t help it. Head to heads between freaks of nature are what keep us watching year after year. The opportunity for these showdowns occurs very infrequently in any sport. In racing the required coincidences go almost off the scale. But here we have it: the fluke of flukes, the concatenation of circumstances that breaks all supposed rules of probability. And absurdly no
first word
“
Black Caviar is like one of those caves into which you drop a pebble and wait for the distant sound of rock striking rock. In her case we’re still waiting
10
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“
impresario is needed because, even without changing their intended itineraries, the two giants are going to be in the same place at the same time. Everyone knows about Frankel now. No need to say any more here. But Black Caviar, even though she’s raced more than twice as often as the miling phenomenon, is still a bit of a mystery horse, at least in the northern half of the world. We know she’s outstanding. We know she’s unbeaten. But what is she beating? Northerners may be forgiven their scepticism having had the recent example of So You Think as a warning. Here was a horse apparently without peer in Australia revealed as just a very, very good one when he changed hemispheres. Maybe she’s no more than that. The differences, as any Australian racing fan will tell you, are big ones. First, So You Think was a middle-distance horse and because of the southern-hemisphere emphasis on speed and precocity middle-distance racing is not what Australian thoroughbreds are very good at these days, or perhaps that should read “any more”. In contrast, Australian-bred sprinters are the best there are, even if rather a high proportion of the best do get sold to Hong Kong. Third, and most important, we’d already seen in the 2010 Melbourne Cup that, although extremely deep, So You Think’s ability did have a bottom. We’ve seen nothing of the sort where Black Caviar is concerned. She doesn’t just win every time, she wins effortlessly, every time. Black Caviar is like one of those caves into which you drop a pebble and wait for the distant sound of rock striking rock. In her case we’re still waiting. What has she beaten? It’s impossible to improve on the words of her trainer Peter Moody in a TV interview after her victory in the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes over 7f, her first step up to that trip. “She’s beaten Melbourne Cup winners, [Golden] Slipper winners, winners of every Group 1 in Australia. She’s beaten them all and the amazing thing is she’s made them
look second rate. I know it might have been her trip some of the time and not theirs. But she’s belittled them. “When she’s not there everyone’s going into raptures about these horses. But all of a sudden when she beats them, they’re not much good. When are we going to stop kidding ourselves that she’s beaten nothing? It really pisses me off.” The fact is that all the best sprinters, all the best horses in Australia, simply now duck any race she’s likely to contest – though multiple Group 1 winner and performer Hay List did try in the Lightning Stakes, but predictably to no avail. Peter Snowdon, trainer of Sheikh Mohammed’s Sepoy, winner of the 2011 Golden Slipper and generally reckoned to be the best sprinting juvenile for years, has consistently ducked the issue. When Zenyatta went for her final victory she made the Oprah Winfrey Show which is about as high an accolade as you can get in the US. But if Black Caviar takes on Frankel on June 23 it will leave the interest in that then unbeaten mare far behind. This possible confrontation is a publicist’s dream. On the one hand a champion trained for a Saudi prince by a much-loved English aristocrat whose own cv reads like a novelist’s invention, ridden by a chirpy Irishman with a gift for mimicry most professional comedians would sell close relations for, named after a great US many in US press rooms used to refer to, only half affectionately, as “Dr Frankelstein”. On the other an underrated “people’s horse” many of whose fans wear her pink with black spots colours as a fashion statement, trained by a down-to-earth Australian who doesn’t mind swearing on TV, ridden by a jockey (Luke Nolen) who’s come back from a smash that would have ended most careers and owned by a bunch of blokes who will not hear of her defeat. The race to take place at the world’s most famous racecourse in front of the Queen of
England in her Diamond Jubilee year. Sea Biscuit v War Admiral also ran. You could bill it as the battle of the sexes, as the racing Ashes, or simply as the Heavyweight Championship of the World. On the face of it Black Caviar has everything against her. She will have travelled more than 12,000 miles for the battle, taking in (presumably without effort) the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) on the way. She will be racing in an unfamiliar country in unfamiliar climatic conditions with all the problems that implies. She is now of an age at which many mares begin to decline. She will be taking on a truly wonderful racehorse over a distance he likes best and she’s never tried before. But if she arrives to meet Frankel in the Queen Anne Stakes on June 23 it will not only be one of the greatest events in racing history, it will be one of the greatest in sporting history. Most of the world will pay attention – yes, even the ones who say loftily that they never take notice of our sport – thereby giving racing the stimulus everyone has been saying for years that it needs. So many things can go wrong there’s no point in letting ourselves get too excited yet. Thoroughbreds are made of glass and either of the greats could spring a crack. The English weather might turn Ascot into a quagmire. It’s even conceivable she might get beaten somewhere along the way. But the one thing that should not happen is that this race should fail to take place because of a lack of human will. There are plenty of reasons for hope. The Aussies want it. Khalid Abdullah is a sportsman first who has no reason to choose financial benefit over fame and gratitude. Peter Moody’s not letting himself get carried away. “They might meet one day” he says, “but it might be on a dark night and he might be climbing on top of her.” That may well happen eventually. But it would be a desperate disappointment if that were their only meeting.
This is racing’s
Big Chance.
A combination of circumstances such as this may never come again.
Foals are Free. Championships are priCeless. nominaTe YoUr sTallion To The BreeDers’ CUp in 2012 anD all oF his Foals reCeiVe Free BreeDers’
programs, including the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
N
S
IN
ON N
TI
O
I
will be nominated for free to the Breeders’ Cup’s $30 million (U.S.) racing
LL
That nomination payment ensures your stallions’ entire foal crop of 2013
NATIO
STA
directly to the Breeders’ Cup for just 50% of the stallion’s advertised fee.
ER
AL
Stallions that stand in the Northern Hemisphere may now be nominated
T
CUp nominaTions in 2013. iT’s ThaT easY.
NOMIN
A
For more inFormation on this new program, visit internationaL.breederscup.com, caLL +1-859-514-9423 or e-maiL bcnominations@breederscup.com
guest speaker
Racing in protest Laura Dell’Elce talks to members of the Italian racing community about the dire situation affecting the sport
I
am an amateur jockey, though not one who you have ever heard of in an international setting. My father used to be an owner until 10 years ago, and my brother Luca, who is also a rider, is now carrying on the family tradition owning and training three horses. Racing is my passion and a family affair, but it is not a job unlike for 1,000s of people for whom racing is a source of income, or at least it was, before the crisis took away the jobs. Last December, Lanfranco Dettori wore a blue T-shirt saying “Save Italian Racing” to the International Jockey’s Challenge in Hong Kong, and since then news about the Italian racing bankruptcy has reached an international audience. In 2012 there as not been any racing in Italy – as reported by the Guardian “strikes were called by all sectors of the sport in protest at dramatic cuts to the prize-money budget and funding for racecourses.” No races, no betting, no money for anyone. Pessimism has become the general attitude among those in racing. Champion jockey Dario Vargiu said: “No racing means no adrenaline for me, but mainly no income to support my family. My two children are asking me if I will have to change my job.” Recently, while talking about the collapse of the national racing scene, the trainer whom I ride for said: “I have no idea what I will do for work. I only can do this!” He is too young to retire, but not young enough to switch careers. “Now,” he added, “I think our racing is really finished.” In the last few months, I know of dozens of stable workers who have changed jobs. People are extremely worried, and everyone, including employees, employers and freelancers, share the same anxiety for the future. I live in Milan and ride at the San Siro training centre, the largest and most
12
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important training facility in Italy. It is the place where many of Italy’s international runners, horses such as Worthadd, Voila Ici, Rakti and Pressing, cantered and developed their talent before competing around the world. This oasis among the urban cement expanse used to be filled with thoroughbreds and people until about 10 years ago; now it is sadly only a faded image of a glorious place. A depressing, surreal atmosphere and a sense of neglect is cast over the tracks and the yards. This is the visual side of the crisis – but may not even be the worst, the San Siro facilities could even end up disappearing altogether, being built for new developments. Present decay hasn’t arrived suddenly; it is the result of a progressive decline, during which some have started reorganising their lives. One such person is Frank Sheridan, who had trained in Italy for long time but a couple of years ago packed up and went to the UK, where he started a new business in Wolverhampton. Another example is jockey Daniele Porcu who moved to Germany in 2009. He said: “In November 2008 the Italian racing sector was going through an earlier phase of mobilisation. “It was at that point that a German trainer offered me the chance to go there and work for him. The following
Laura Dell’Elce rides as an amateur, but horseracing is a job for many of her friends, including champion jockey Dario Vargiu who has been protesting (below) in Rome
March my wife and I settled in Baden Baden. Now I follow the Italian situation with concern, and I am not too optimistic. Italian racing is sick, the prognosis is doubtful and therapy could be a long process and with an uncertain result.” Everyone agrees that the crisis was due to poor institutional management. “Poor industry governance drove us toward this current breakdown, and now it is hard to find and implement effective and fast solutions,” explains Vargiu. “We are tired of being unfairly represented. We need structural reforms. We want to clean up our sector from everything that caused this situation.” Andrea Benetti, president of owners said: “UNIRE uses income from betting to pay its exorbitant fixed overheads; the rest is for prize-money. We have to make up for this discrepancy.” Other causes have also contributed to bringng the system crashing down. Valfredo Valiani,
guest speaker
“
Poor industry governance drove us toward this current breakdown, and now it is hard to find and implement effective and fast solutions
T
“
one of the best Italian trainers and the man who discovered Electrocutionist, had to close his business last July after 25 years. “The main reason,” he said, “is that as I was one of the few trainers in Italy following in full the law and rules, particularly with employees. I became far too expensive compared to others, who could provide a cheaper service.” The crisis was also the result of several complicated causes, which included increased betting on football and over the internet. People are now starting to ask about the protests initiated on January 1, and wondering whether stopping racing was the right way to manage the crisis? The strikes have some negative, immediate implications: jockeys cannot ride, trainers cannot plan a campaign for their horses, owners tire of waiting to see horses run. he government confirms that there is no money to help racing. Maybe it is time to organise a real restructuring plan, which may also include some sacrifices, but is forward-looking and can drive racing out of the crisis? Journalist Franco Raimondi posted on Facebook: “The racing industry is oversized. There is place for only a half of the people who work in it.” It is a bitter remark, but maybe it is the truth. Valiani, a former president of the trainer’s group, said: “Only a charismatic movement of expert and honest racing people can redefine turf physiognomy, to work on the safeguarding of horses, owners, public audience and gamblers. “Protecting horses is not only our first duty, but also the way to build a new image for our sport: we must demonstrate that racing is not a barbaric custom but a noble activity inspired by love and respect for horses. “Caring for owners – by assuring them of a suitable regulation framework, a reliable sport justice application and a merit-oriented race programme – is also a primary need, because they provide business to trainers, breeders and jockeys.
“Respecting punters and spectators – by offering them regular and attractive races and welcoming racecourses – is also fundamental as gambling is our irreplaceable financial source. We also need to give racegoers an element of human warmth to our sport so preventing it from being reduced to a mere virtual game.” For Alessandro Parravani, president of the jockeys’ group, the most important change, as he explained in an interview for the economic journal Il Sole 24 Ore, must be modifying and modernising the betting industry, which needs to be made more appealing for the market. In the same feature, Benetti added: “We need a cultural change, because betting in Italy is considered a dirty affair.” Jockey Massimiliano Tellini, in La Verità per Sport, tried to be optimistic. “The crisis can be an opportunity, because it can drive us toward a reformed industry, provided that we meet three targets: horse ownership only as a prerogative for people who really can afford it, betting system reorganisation and management restructuring.” Sharing Tellini’s attitude, I believe that the racing crisis can provide us with a chance to improve and evolve. These difficulties have produced a stronger industry cohesion and common identity. In this process, the internet has played a prominent role. Social networks have been an important element in raising awareness, unifying the different areas, organising strikes and, now, as a forum for us to exchange thoughts on the future. The claim “Save Italian Racing” on the blue T-shirt worn by Frankie has become not only the slogan of the entire protest, but also a group on Facebook, which has catalysed thoughts from those involved in the industry. For some, the present racing blackout offers chances to run horses abroad. International campaigns have been, until now, an option for only the larger stables: but now some smaller yards – as long as they are led by open-minded trainers and owners – are considering foreign courses in planning
their thoroughbred’s races. The Dalai Lama says that “not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck”, so maybe the lack of government funds and arriving at this point of no return was necessary for racing to give it a fresh start to return to a competitive framework. I am confident we will win our challenge.
Italian crisis: timeline
November 2008: Italian racing goes on strike and the Premio Sergio Cumani (G3) is lost. March 2011: Three strikes at Capannelle over five days. RSU, the union for the Hippogroup Roma Capannelle’s employees, has called for strikes as part of a protest against job losses. December 2011: Francesco Ruffo, secretary-general of ASSI, racing’s governing body, announced that in 2012 racecourses would receive just €61 million, about €40m less than last year. Betting on horses fell by 20 per cent in 2011 and racetracks became increasingly empty. December 31, 2011: The last race meeting takes places as a series of strikes begins. January 1, 2012: Protesters claim ASSI are planning further cuts and about 200 people break into the offices of UnireTV and remove equipment and cabling in order to prevent the broadcasting of foreign racing. All racecourses are closed, while representatives of breeders, trainers and owners stage a sit-in at the governing body’s headquarters in Rome . January 8, 2012: Protesters race 20 horses along the seafront in Naples, much to the bemusement of passing tourists. January 12, 2012: The crisis escalates when an explosive device goes off outside parliament during protests over the cuts threatening the industry. Organisers claimed only 600 demonstrators gathered in Piazza Montecitorio, other industry insiders suggest that the crowd is up to 4,500 or 5,000 strong. Riders, trainers and breeders wear horse-head masks and blow trumpets. January 17, 2012: Parliament’s budget and constitutional affairs commission judge admissible an amendment to extend an act of parliament to allow the racing industry to benefit from slot machines. Parliament will have to deliberate the amendment before a decision is made. A newspaper report describes racing in Italy as being “effectively bankrupt”. February, 2012: Umberto Rispoli has obtained a licence to ride in Hong Kong from February 20 until April 29. Italy’s Euro MPs are asking fellow MPs in the European Parliament for details of how the racing industry is funded in other EU countries. The report is due in July.
www.internationalthoroughbred.net
13
the news
Top mares and fillies head to Japan Shadai and Northern Farm purchase Sarafina and Mosheen, and retire Stacelita
J
apanese interests have been busy continuing to buy some of the top mares and fillies in the world. Shadai Farm, owned by Teruya Yoshida, and Northern Farm, which belongs to Teruya’s brother Katsumi, have been purchasing more top class mares for their respective broodmare bands as part of a continued global buying spree targeting champion fillies and mares that began over 12 months ago. After Shadai’s purchase of Stacelita following the Breeder’s Cup, Teruya Yoshida’s farm has bought the multiple European Group 1 winner and Aga Khan bred mare Sarafina for a reported £5 million, while Northern Farm has purchased the Australian Group 1 VRC Oaks winner Mosheen. Sarafina, a five-year-old daughter of Refuse To Bend, will visit the emerging leading Japanese-based stallion Deep Impact, a son of Sunday Silence who stands at Shadai. According to the Racing Post, the deal for the Aga Khan-bred mare was brokered by the US-based bloodstock agent Eugenio Colombo. Her fellow French-bred Grade 1 winner Stacelita (Monsun), winner of the Prix de Diane and a champion in France at three, has been retired from racing by Shadai and has been booked to visit Smart Strike. The Australian-based trainer Robert Smerdon also confirmed that a half-share in his Oaks winner Mosheen has been sold to Northern Farm. Mosheen cost her Australian connections A$250,000 (£168,270) as a yearling at the
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2010 Inglis Easter sale. She is from Might And Power’s family and raced for a syndicate managed by Phil Sly. The Fastnet Rock filly began her career under the care of Leon Corstens and was runner-up to Sepoy in last year’s Group 1 Golden Slipper. Subsequently moved to
Smerdon’s Caulfield stable, Mosheen won the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes prior to her 9l victory in the Group 1 VRC Oaks. The Yoshida family’s other recent high profile purchases include the champion South American filly Belle Watling and Arc heroine Danedream, and the
2006 Melbourne Cup quinella Delta Blues and Pop Rock. Shadai’s off-shoot Sunday Racing also owns local champion Buena Vista. Japan’s favourite mare lost the 2010 Japan Cup on protest, but atoned with a popular victory in the 2011 Cup in front of 103,000 fans in November.
Stacelita: after her autumn purchase by the Yoshidas, Sarafina and Mosheen have also been purchased
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Josh Gifford 1941-2012 JOSHUA GIFFORD: born on August 3, 1941 at Huntingdon. APPRENTICESHIP: With Sam Armstrong on the Flat, but moved to Findon when his weight went up to 10st after he received a telephone call from trainer Captain Ryan Price who reportedly barked: “Come down here boy. You’ll never get anywhere sitting on your arse!” FIRST RIDE: Gifford had his first ride as a 12-year-old and his first winner came two years later in 1956 on Trentham Boy on the Flat. His first NH winner came at Wincanton in 1959. His first ride over big fences was in 1962 on Siracusa in the National when the horse’s regular jockey was injured. Gifford was unseated at the ditch going to Bechers’ Brook for the second time. EARLY DISQUALIFICATION: On March 5, 1966, along with eight other jockeys, he was disqualified for taking the wrong course at Market Rasen. CAREER AS A JOCKEY: He was a leading apprentice on the Flat with victories in the November Handicap and Chester Cup, and a four-time Champion NH jockey. He rode 641 winners during a 14-year riding career. He had 30 rides over the National fences, only failing to finish the course four times. He never won the National as a jockey, but was second in 1967 behind 100-1 shot Foinavon. LAST WIN AS A JOCKEY: Final winning ride was on Pendil in Plumpton’s John Hare Handicap Hurdle on March 30, 1970. Five days later, after completing the Grand National on Assad, he announced his retirement at the age of 28. A week later, he began training at the Downs Stables at Findon. FIRST WINNER AS TRAINER: Within a month of getting his licence with Cheers Echo. Gifford trained over 1,500 winners. GRAND NATIONAL WINNER: Aldaniti in 1981. Gifford is one of the few racing personalities to have been represented on the big screen, Edward Woodward portraying him in the film Champions. FIRST WINNER AT THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL: Gifford had to wait until
him 17 years to train a Cheltenham Festival winner, but then had three at the same meeting. NOTABLE WINNERS TRAINED INCLUDE: Approaching (1978 Hennessy), Kybo (1978 Ascot Hurdle & Christmas Hurdle), Henry Bishop (1980 SGB Chase), Royal Judgement (1982 Compton Chase), Earthstopper (1983 Mandarin Chase ), Door Latch (1985 & 1986 SGB Chase), Our Fun (1985 Castleford Chase), Ballyhane (1988 SGB Chase), French Goblin (1988 Long Walk), Saffron Lord (1988 H & T Walker Gold Cup), Midnight Count (1988 Castleford Chase), Pragada (1988 Coral Golden Hurdle Final), Vodkatini (1988 Grand Annual), Golden Minstrel (Kim Muir 1988), Envopak Token (1989 Sun Alliance), Paddyboro (1989 Mildmay Of Flete), Comandante (1990 Arkle), Foyle Fisherman (1991 Mildmay Of Flete), Bradbury Star (1993 & 1994, Mackeson Gold Cups), Deep Sensation (1993, Queen Mother), Topsham Bay (1993 Whitbread Gold Cup)
the news
Refuse To Bend, sire of Sarafina, dies of a heart attack
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efuse To Bend, who had transferred to stand at Haras du Logis in France for this season, died of a heart attack in February. Bred by Moyglare Stud Farm
and a half-brother to Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle, the son of Sadler’s Wells was trained as a juvenile by Dermot Weld to win the Group 1 National Stakes. The following season he won the 2,000 Guineas. Purchased privately by Sheikh Mohammed and transferred to Saeed Bin Suroor for his fouryear-old campaign, Refuse To Bend won the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) and the Eclipse Stakes (G1). He retired to Kildangan Stud in 2005 and although he did
not develop into a stallion for the commercial market, despite having had only four crops of racing age so far, he has sired one of the best fillies of recent years, the champion three-year-old and Aga Khan-bred filly Sarafina, winner of the Group 1 Prix de Diane, Prix Saint-Alary and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. He is also the sire of a second Prix Saint-Alary winner in the Darley Stud-bred Wavering, as well as 15 stakes winners and 23 stakes horses in Europe and
Australia. His best runner in the southern hemisphere is the Group 3 winner Benny’s Buttons. He spent two northern hemisphere seasons at Whistsbury Stud before moving to France. Darley’s director of stallions, Sam Bullard, said: “Refuse To Bend’s death will be a significant loss. He was a superb racehorse and he had it all ahead of him as a stallion. Refuse To Bend’s progeny had a wonderful 2010 and 2011 and as a result he was proving very popular in France this year.”
Bloodstock agent William Huntingdon takes a look at the varied world of racing and bloodstock
Industry-decisive court cases in Oz
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Dunaden’s Melbourne Cup and Hong Kong Vase victories must be a little easier to handle, especially as his 17 winners have netted him £900,000! A rather tortuous route via Perth got me to Sydney for the Classic Sale, which is sandwiched between the Magic Millions and Karaka in New Zealand. Averages were down by around ten per cent and perhaps the quality was a little weaker than in past years; it would appear that Inglis has strengthened the catalogue for the Premier Sale in Victoria. As always, though, the nice individual was hard to buy. I changed my plans and did not go to Karaka where Australian-based sires filled five of the top six positions by average, with only the New Zealand-based Zabeel (at the age of 25) breaking the deadock with a third place behind Fastnet Rock and Encosta De Lago. I returned to Perth for the city’s sale; luckily the extreme weather relented over the weekend and allowed comfortable inspecting conditions. Having a select first day boosted the average enormously, but the successive days were very hard for vendors and there were a lot of unsold lots. The West Australian stallion market
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is weak at present and the only really successful proven sire is Blackfriars, the staying son of Danehill, who was bred by Swettenham. When Scenic and Metal Storm were in their prime, there were plenty of reasons for Eastern state-based buyers to travel to the West. They also had three good seasons out of Danetime, whose son Myboycharlie has done well at sales on both sides of the country.
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I am always happy to eat anything once, but I did try two things that will not be reordered: duck tongues in Chinese wine and Korean-style, spicy sea snail salad..!
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t is hard to believe that I have been away from Kingsclere for a month already, but weather reports from home suggested that it has not been a bad time to have been away. However, a Perth temperature in mid-February of 104 and computer issues that forced me into the Apple Shop at lunchtime, redressed the balance slightly. My journey to Australia was broken by a three-day stopover in Hong Kong and a Sunday raceday at Sha Tin, where the catering was superb. I am always happy to eat anything once, but I did try two things that will not be reordered: duck tongues in Chinese wine and Korean-style, spicy sea snail salad...! However, the Vietnamese-style, ratatouille-filled vol-au-vents and the spicy pork buns were excellent at tea time. Monday morning’s hourlong “pump class” on level 37 of the Exchange building, overlooking the Star Ferry terminal, was badly needed. I caught up with trainer Richard Gibson, who has made a stellar start to his new job and is already past the 13-winner mark that the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) needs by of June. He is likely to be turning horses away for next year, so missing out on
The main action now moves to Melbourne with a three-day select sale and a one-day session two. I am hoping to see as many yearlings as possible before the sale on the studs, something I have often done in New South Wales. Victorian racing was greatly helped by Jeff Kennet, a previous Australian Premier, and it is also aided by a very generous Super Vobis scheme, which provides over A$13 million in incentives for Victorian-bred horses. Melbourne does Spring Carnivals exceptionally well and the racecourse has the added bonus of an equine superstar in the shape of Black Caviar to attract the fans. She has doubled the crowds to around 20,000 in her last two starts and will hopefully travel to England this summer. The Australian breeding industry is awaiting the decision on the case brought by the breeder and onetime bookmaker Bruce McHugh, who claims that the refusal to allow Artificial Insemination by thoroughbred stallions is a breach of the Trade Practices Act. The argument in his favour is that the introduction of AI would result in reduced costs, an improvement in horse welfare, limitation of disease and
the news
Colt foal by Curlin for Rachel Alexandra Boundary and Chichicastenango die The 2009 Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, the 13-time winner whose victories included the Preakness and the Woodward Stakes, gave birth to a colt by Curlin in January. Born at Stonestreet Farm, Lexington, farm manager Gary Megibben reported that all is well with both mare and foal. “Rachel is a natural mother, and took to the colt immediately,” he said. Owner Barbara Banke was told of the news while preparing to cheer on her San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game at Candlestick Park. “I am thrilled with the good news of Rachel’s safe delivery and health of the handsome colt that resembles her,” said Banke in a statement released by Jackson Family Wines, which was founded by the late Jess Jackson. “For me and my children, this colt represents Jess’s dream – to raise and race the best. Co-owner Hal McCormick and I look forward to watching him develop and are excited to see him carry the Stonestreet silks as his mom and dad did before him.”
could improve the breed. Those against argue that AI does not improve fertility (based on non-thoroughbreds), it further concentrates power to the major stud farms and would limit bio-diversity. But AI is used in the French trotting industry and stallions are restricted to a 100 live foals a year; seemingly a good idea, however surely this could also be seen as a restrictive trade practice? Should Australia act unilaterally, it will probably find most world racing authorities unsupportive. The HKJC would have just cause to boycott all Australian sales, not just the New South Wales ones, a decision taken after Racing NSW re-licensed Chris Munce before his world-wide suspension had expired. Racing NSW is also awaiting a court decision that could stifle or transform their region’s prize-money levels. The issue here is again one of competition and retail exclusivity. The industry is accused of propping up a monopoly Tabcorp, which provides revenue for the state and the racing industry. The bookmakers (only licensed oncourse) argue that the internet has no borders, so the law prohibiting a wagering service provider having a retail presence off the racecourse has been nullified. Racing NSW has stashed away A$150 million in trust from wagering operations that could go back into
racing, along with A$60 million annually if they win their case. Randwick is temporally out of action as the grandstand has concrete cancer and needs A$150 for a makeover. This has meant much mid-week racing has been parcelled out to non-metropolitan tracks with lower prize-money. Fortunately, the sport has a very pro-active racing minister in George Souris and a strong and experienced chair in John Messara. Messara is made for the job as he is passionate, articulate, possesses an excellent business brain and has a commanding presence. He is a good team worker and is at least prepared to listen to a point of view differing from his own. His own words best explain his policy: “Australia is in a better economic shape and racing still holds a distinct place in our culture. It is now up to our industry leaders to capitalise on those advantages. This means using our assets and income effectively to keep current owners and racegoers in the game, and adopting modern technology to reach new owners and fans. “Rationalising racing’s specialist media assets and engaging with mainstream media must be high on the list.” Let’s hope Paul Bittar can bring the same drive and experienced-initiative to the BHA and unite our British industry rather than dividing it.
Boundary (Danzig), the sire of the 2008 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner and champion colt Big Brown, died in February at Claiborne Farm, Kentucky. He has been buried at the farm. The 22-year-old stallion, who was retired from stud duties in 2005, was bred and raced by the partnership of Claiborne Farm and William H. Perry’s Gamely Corporation. He won six of eight lifetime starts, including the 1994 Grade 3 A Phenomenon Stakes and the Grade 3 Roseben Handicap. He retired to Claiborne in 1995 and during his career at stud, got 26 stakes winners and progeny earnings of over $26.5 million. In addition to Big Brown, the stallion’s leading performers included Minardi, the champion two-year-old colt in England and Ireland in 2000, Pomeroy, winner of the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes and Conserve, a multiple Grade 2 stakes winner. Vision D’Etat Chichicastenango, sire of the multiple Group 1 winner Vision d’Etat, died in Japan on January 13 after undergoing colic surgery. The French-bred 14-year-old son of Smadoun had been standing at the Yoshida family’s Shadai Stallion Station since 2009 having previously stood at Haras de Victot in France. “Chichicastenango showed signs of colic around the end of last year and then was sent to Shadai Horse Clinic for a laparotomy on January 5,” said Shadai Farm spokesman Naohiro Hosoda to the Racing Post. “He remained in the clinic and seemed to be recovering. But suddenly his condition changed for the worst and he died on January 13, despite our vets struggling to do their best.” Chichicastenango won four of 14 starts, including the Grand Prix de Paris (G1) and the Prix Lupin (G1). He also won the Prix Thomas Byron (G3) at Saint Cloud and finished second in the 2001 Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) at Longchamp. Chichicastenango has sired seven crops during his stallion career for a total of 260 foals. Of his 169 runners, 70 have been winners, including five at Group race level. Chichicastenango had small crops when in France and although his second crop numbered less than 40, it included Vision D’Etat. An international jetsetter, Vision D’Etat won Group 1 races in three different countries, including the 2009 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot, the 2009 renewal of the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin as well as pair of Group 1 races in France. Vision D’Etat won ten of 17 starts and earned $4,216,660. “His two-year-olds look athletic,” said Hosoda. “Some of them will be ready to run in the two-year-old races in early summer. We deeply regret losing him and there are high expectations for his remaining offspring.” The retired Vision D’Etat now stands at Haras de Grandcamp, while Chichicastenango’s other son at stud, Chichi Creasy, stands at Haras Du Grand.
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the news
Japanese Triple Crown winner takes Horse of the Year award Orfevre, winner of Japan’s Triple Crown, fell one vote short of being a unanimous choice for the Japan Racing Association’s (JRA) Horse of the Year title for 2011. But the son of Stay Gold, trained by Yasutoshi Ikee for owner Sunday Racing Co., Ltd., collected all 285 votes for best three-yearold colt on the basis of his Triple Crown sweep in the Tokyo Ushun (Japanese Derby), Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas), and Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger), all Grade 1. In addition, the colt defeated older horses in the Arima Kinen and became the only Triple Crown winner to also win that race in the same year. The honour for Orfevre marked the second straight Horse of the Year title for Sunday Racing, who took top honours with Buena Vista in 2010. According to the JRA, Orfevre will be run abroad for his fouryear-old campaign. Sunday Racing also was honoured with Buena Vista being voted best older filly or mare and for best two-year-old filly with Joie De Vivre.
No doubts...
...for leading sales consignor Ted Voute, who voices his opinion on all things bloodstock and sales-related
South African success
S
un, Sea, Good Food and nice yearlings is all it took to make the second Premier Sale in Cape Town a success. The 12-hour trip to the Cape is compensated by the twohour time difference. It is a short journey from the airport to the Cullinan Hotel in downtown Cape Town and within minutes we were looking at yearlings under air-conditioned cover, and, interestingly, in the same light for the entire day. I came to see how it was done, and what particularly interested me was the facilities for the horses. My first observation was the calmness of the yearlings, most of which had shipped in through the Monday night – by Wednesday morning they were all as docile as a pet lying in front of the fire on a winter’s night. Interestingly, there was no ’
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exercise ground and no one had heard of “ACP”, while there was also no lunge arena. There was a pre-parade ring – in the car park and covered in eight inches of beach sand – while there were rubber mats inside and outside the boxes. Inside the stables, of which there were two types, the rubber mats were covered in shavings with straw bedding on top of that. The stables differed only in so much as Dr Andreas Jacobs had imported his own German-made versions. Very smart affairs, they had grills at the front, whereas the alternative had grills all around the top quarter with plastic sheeting to separate any overly interested colts interested in causing trouble. Very simply, stabling was in rows of around 20 and lettered from A to J. Absolutely everything was brought in – feed, bedding, while water was laid on.
Japan Racing Association Awards for 2011 (all bred in Japan) Horse of the Year/best three-year-old colt: Orfevre (Stay Gold) Two-year-old colt: Alfredo (Symboli Kris S) Two-year-old filly: Joie De Vivre (Deep Impact) Three-year-old flly: Aventura (Jungle Pocket) Older colt or horse: Victoire Pisa (Neo Universe) Older filly or mare: Buena Vista (Special Week) Sprinter or miler: Curren Chan (Kurofane) Dirt horse: Transcend (Wild Rush) Steeplechase horse: Majesty Bio (Opera House) Trainer (races won and training technique): Katsuhiko Sumii Trainer (winning average): Noriyuki Hori Trainer (money earned): Yasutoshi Ikee Jockey (races won and money earned): Yasunari Iwata Jockey (winning average): Yuichi Fukunaga
The sales arena, which was made from scratch, was moved from a sideon position to a position backing onto the stabling behind it. There was a wide, giant liquid crystal screen both behind the rostrum and in front, with a bar to the side and 75 tables of 10 places in front of the sale ring. Auditorium seating at the back and to one side held approximately another 100 people. The auction was conducted by the masterful John O’Kelly and a local South African auctioneer. The two-day sale began in an evening atmosphere dressed in black tie, which helped to give the sale an exclusive feel. The second day started at noon. With the tourists no longer seated, the tables could have been reduced by half, but the auction carried on as it had been set out the day before. Silvano had the headlines on the first day and Jet Master took over the mantle during the second day. The sale ended up with an average of around £30,000, a not insignificant amount by any measure considering it takes five months to extract your horses from South Africa to the travel restrictions. The sale was a resounding success with local and overseas buyers and all the usual trading that any auction lives by.
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he annual Weatherbys Fact Book always makes fascinating reading and, most significantly, other than a well-reported levelling out of foal crops predicted to be at the bottom with Ireland having 5,000 less foals than in 2008 and England 1,300 less, we should have a good supply-todemand ratio for a year or two. Broodmare registrations in Britain were 1,235 with the number of retired and dead mares at 1,150, but in Ireland that ratio was 1,486 registrations, but 2,570 retired or deceased. In 2008, the figures were effectively parallel, but since then the ratio has increased by at least 40 per cent, and in 2009 by over 50 per cent suggesting that many Irish breeders put mares down instead of continuing to breed from them. I always marvel at how small a business we have and note that there are still only 100 breeders with more than 10 mares in Britain and in Ireland, although there are 11,000 individual breeders in the two countries combined. The demographics in exports have altered and significantly Saudi Arabia, Russia and Singapore had no exports from Britain, while Ireland listed Argentina, Greece, South Africa, New Zealand and Turkey as losses to their market place.
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2012 Fee: € 9,000 Filling Fast - Limited to 125 mares
RODERIC O’CONNOR
Galileo - Secret Garden (Danehill)
Champion’s Pedigree
Dual Gr.1 Classic Winning Miler At 2 1st
Gr.1 Criterium International, Saint Cloud (8f) “comfortably” beating Salto & French Navy
2nd
Gr.1 Dubai Dewhurst Stks, Newmarket (7f) second to Frankel, beating Dream Ahead
At 3 1st
Gr.1 Abu Dhabi Irish 2000 Guineas (8f) beating Dubawi Gold, Dunboyne Express
The “magical” Galileo / Danehill cross of Frankel, Teofilo, Maybe etc. Family of Champion 2yo Durtal, Champion 3yo Detroit, Banimpire and outstanding Champion sire Zabeel.
“Undoubtedly a high class colt”
Outstanding 1st book of mares inc; Winners of: Prix d’Arenberg Cherry Hinton Stakes
Ballyogan Stakes Irish Oaks
Dams of winners of: Prix de l’Abbaye
Breeders Cup Juvenile
Sisters to winners of: 2,000 Guineas 1,000 Guineas Winning Irish 2000 Guineas
Kings Stand Stakes Hong Kong Derby
King George and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes
Stud
Ballyhane Arakan - Captain Rio - Dandy Man - Frozen Power - Majestic Missile - Roderic O’Connor ITB_feb_section2.indd 19
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racing action
England v Ireland
Sue Montgomery takes a look at the NH form ahead of this year’s Cheltenham Festival
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he annual good-natured battle for bragging rights between British and Irish stables is one of the many captivating aspects of the Cheltenham Festival. Last year, the raiders took home a record 13 prizes, including two of the senior titles courtesy of Hurricane Fly’s success in the Champion Hurdle and Sizing Europe’s Queen Mother Champion Chase victory. The big one, though, the Gold Cup, has eluded Irish trainers for five years. The last of the nation’s 21 winners was the 2006 hero War Of Attrition, who led home compatriots Hedgehunter and Forget The Past in an unprecedented green sweep. Since then the tide has turned markedly, not only in terms of results but also participation. In the past five Gold Cups, Irish stables have mustered only nine runners, with none at all in 2009. Most were longshots and none finished in the frame; the best efforts being fifth places from Cane Brake in 2007 and Cooldine, at 10-1 the best-fancied of the collection, two years ago. The current thinness on the ground of top-class staying chasers in Ireland is likely a function of several factors, including the demise of the Celtic Tiger economy and the rise and rise in British stables of classy French-breds, who have claimed 12 of the last 20 first-four Gold Cup places, including three victories. The Irish challenge for this year’s Gold Cup is again likely to be small, though maybe a case of fighting fire with fire – the leading challenger Quel Esprit is a son of France’s best young jumps sire Saint Des Saints and rated the best so far by the Haras D’Etrehambased son of his nation’s jump breeding legend, Cadoudal. Quel Esprit finally justified the high opinion in which he has long been held by Willie Mullins as he laid down his credentials in Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown.
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racing action The field for the three-miler, the last Grade 1 chase in Ireland before the Cheltenham Festival, was weakened by a spate of late withdrawals, including Quito De La Roque (subsequently also taken out of the Gold Cup), who had beaten Sizing Europe at Down Royal earlier in the season, and Synchronised, the course-and-distance winner of the Lexus Chase in December. But Quel Esprit was easily best of those Midnight Chase: winning his fifth race at Cheltenham when successful in the Argento Chase (G2). The son of Midnight Legend aims to be the first British-bred winner of the Gold Cup since 1995
who did turn up. The eight-year-old, under a positive ride from Ruby Walsh, led most of the way, extended his advantage after the penultimate obstacle and seemed to idle on the run-in to let Roberto Goldback get within 2l at the line, the pair clear of Grand National candidate Treacle. As far as Mullins and the team at Closutton had been concerned, neither Quel Esprit’s class nor his jumping technique had been in doubt. But the fact remains that, before this season, he had failed to complete four of his nine outings over hurdles or fences, including on two previous visits to Cheltenham, when he fell at the second in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle won by Peddlers Cross and, last year, when in the lead three out in the RSA Chase won by Bostons Angel. This term, though, the grey – who is not only strengthening with maturity but has also showed the benefit of airway surgery – has hardly put a hoof wrong in his three runs, with two successful confidence-boosting lower-grade assignments prefacing his first victory at Grade 1 level, during the course of which he was almost flamboyant through the air on occasions. The Leopardstown contest has had only a limited bearing on the Gold Cup – only Jodami (1993) and Imperial Call (1996) completing the double. After this year’s edition its winner, who carries the hopes of a group of Dublin-based businessmen, was judged around a 16-1 shot for the Cheltenham showpiece, though possibly longer than that by Walsh, who has the knowledge of being able to judge him against his scheduled mount Kauto Star. If the betting, dominated by defending champion and Newbury winner Long Run and dual winner Kauto Star, is right, barring accidents and coughing in Nicholls’s yard, third place will be all that is up for grabs. Another to put his case was Lady Clarke’s colourbearer Midnight Chase, with his beautifully-ridden (by Dougie Costello) all-the-way success in the Argento Chase, a Grade 2 contest over the Gold Cup course and distance. The only recent winner to make the frame at The Festival has been 2007 runner-up Exotic Dancer. Midnight Chase, the pride of Neil Mulholland’s small Somerset string, is thoroughly at home round Cheltenham; five of his last six victories have come there and he seems inspired by the climb to the finish. He led for a circuit in last year’s Gold Cup before being dropped as the pace quickened, but to
Graded jumps winners by Sadler’s Wells, his sons and paternal grandsons Up to February 12, 2012 SADLER'S WELLS 1981 (died 2011); Coolmore, Co Tipperary Archive Footage, French Ballerina, Istabraq, Pridwell, Synchronised, Ashkazar, Cane Brake, Covent Garden, Essex, Fire Dragon, Fontanesi, Historic, Jubilant Note, Judge Roy Bean, Julius Caesar, Pittsburgh Phil, Sabadilla, Snob Wells, Streets Of Gold, Sword Fish, The Bull Hayes, The Fist Of God, Theatreworld, Tilabay. ACCORDION 1986 (died 2007); Ballycrystal, Co Offaly Accordion Etoile, Albertas Run, Darkness, Dato Star, Feathard Lady, Flagship Uberalles, Follow The Plan, Graphic Equaliser, His Song, According To Pete, An Accordion, Battlecry, Beroni, Blazing Tempo, Canary Wharf, Finger Onthe Pulse, French Accordion, Get Me Out Of Here, Hoh Invader, Holly Tree, Jigalo, Keelaghan, Montana Slim, O'Muircheartaigh, Patsy Veale, Purple Shuffle, The Tother One, Weird Al. BARATHEA 1990 (died 2009); Rathbarry, Co Cork Made In Japan, Marsh Warbler, Overturn, Lemon Silk, Silk Affair. BASANTA 1991; North East, Co Meath Archie Boy, Santa's Son BEAT HOLLOW 1997; Ballylinch, Co Kilkenny Hollow Tree, Battle Group, Cinders And Ashes, Citizenship BLACK SAM BELLAMY 2004; Shade Oak, Shropshire The Giant Bolster BRIAN BORU 2000; Beeches, Co Waterford Bold Sir Brian CENTRAL PARK 1995; Mount Brown, Co Galway Corbally Ghost CLOUDINGS 1994; Old Road, Co Waterford Cloudy Lane COURT CAVE 2001, Boardsmill, Co Meath Champion Court DOLPOUR 1986; Eisenfarn, Carmarthenshire Something Wells DR MASSINI 1993; Dunraven, S Wales Clopf, Massini's Maguire, Fosters Cross, Oilily, Psycho, Tell Massini, Rocky Creek DUSHYANTOR 1993; Glenview, Co Cork Academy Sir Harry, Loosen My Load, Shop Dj
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racing action Graded jumps winners by Sadler’s Wells etc continued... ENRIQUE 1996; Hoguenet, normandy Binocular GALILEO 1998; Coolmore, Co Tipperary Celestial Halo GOLDEN TORNADO 1996; Gurteen, Co offaly Berties dream, dancing Tornado HIGH CHAPARRAL 1999; Coolmore, Co Tipperary Baccalaureate IN THE WINGS 1986 (died 2004); Kildangan, Co Kildare Inglis drever, landing light, Sadlers Wings, Souffleur, Barney Knows, In The High Grass, Wingman. JOHANN QUATZ 1989; du Saz, loire-atlantic Sweet My lord KAYF TARA 1994; overbury, Gloucestershire Planet of Sound, Carruthers, Clan Tara, Kornati Kid, Mad Max, Megastar, Tarablaze, Velnamar. KING'S THEATRE 1991 (died 2011); Ballylinch, Co Kilkenny Captain Chris, Cue Card, Fingal Bay, Menorah, nas na Riogh, nobody Told Me, Voler la Vedette, Wichita lineman, Brogella, Carrigmartin, Clear Riposte, dare To doubt, King High, King's opera, Mister Watzisname, noble alan, Riverside Theatre, Royal alphabet, Royal Choice, Royal Shakespeare, Sesenta, Skint, Slieveardagh, Tiger o'Toole, Tramp Stamp, Tumbling dice. MILAN 1998; Grange, Co Cork lambro MOHAAJIR 1991; Catroncar, Co longford Gone To lunch MONTJEU 1996; Coolmore, Co Tipperary Hurricane Fly, Sweeps Hill, Won In The dark, Blue Bajan, eradicate, King's Quay, Moscova, Mount Helicon, noble Prince, our Monty, Sophist, Sweeps Hill. OLD VIC 1986 (died 2011); Sunnyhill, Co Kildare Carrigeen Victor, Citizen Vic, In Compliance, Kicking King, one Cool Cookie, our Vic, Snoopy loopy, Southern Vic, askanna, aiteen Thirtythree, Ben ewar, Black apalachi, Blueberry Boy, Chelsea Harbour, Comply or die, deireadh Re, don't Push It, Grangeclare lark, Jack The Bus, leading Man, l'opera, Mossley, ninetieth Minute, Questions answered, Racing demon, Red Harbour, Royal Reveille, Sea diva, Smoking aces, Theatre lane, uimhiraceathair, Vic Venturi, Winter Garden.
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Big Buck’s (right): in the World Hurdle will be bidding to match Sir Ken’s record of 16 NH victories in a row
his credit he stayed on again to claim fifth. But again, Walsh has the priceless yardstick view from the saddle; he rode Tidal Bay into a near 3l second place in the Argento Chase, and knows perfectly well the gap in class between that 11-year-old and Kauto Star. Irish-trained Gold Cup winners may be something of a rarity these days, a shadow of the period during the 1960s and 1970s when the names Dreaper, Moore, flood, Taaffe and O’Toole were inscribed on the trophy ten times in 14 years. But Irish-bred, of course, is a different story – of the last 30 winners only eight were foaled elsewhere. Midnight Chase, by Midnight Legend, will be trying to become the first British-bred winner since Master Oats in 1995. Of the other four senior Grade 1 championships, only the ryanair Chase is perceived to retain a degree of competitiveness. In any jump race there is always the capacity for the unexpected, but as far as can be judged in advance, the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the World Hurdle seem done deals, due to be retained by Hurricane fly, Sizing europe and Big Buck’s. After his summary dismissal of his rivals for last season’s 2m crown and a follow-up at Punchestown, Hurricane fly’s reappearance was as much anticipated as it proved delayed, but Willie Mullins’s patience with the rather fragile superstar proved masterly. The wraps were eventually taken off George Creighton’s eight-year-old in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown to devastating effect. On ground judged much softer than ideal, the Irish-bred son of Montjeu produced a display that surprised even his connections with its authority, cruising to the lead in the straight before stretching more than 6l clear. His victim Oscars Well is pretty smart, but it was the style as much as the substance of Hurricane fly’s comeback that impressed and a repeat at Cheltenham will confirm him as the best in the division since Istabraq. Hurricane fly is not yet rated the best
hurdler in training – very nearly, but not quite. The honour still belongs to longdistance star Big Buck’s, who extended his winning streak to 15 in the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January with his usual insouciant ease. The Paul nichollstrained nine-year-old needs one more victory to match the all-time record over jumps set by his fellow french-bred Sir Ken during the 1950s, a sequence that included two of his three Champion Hurdles. It would be entirely fitting if it came on the greatest jumping stage, with an unprecedented fourth World Hurdle for the son of Cadoudal. Like Hurricane fly, Big Buck’s is partnered by Walsh who, with the best from the leading stables in Britain and Ireland at his disposal, is in the enviable position of being able to play up front for both Manchester United and Manchester City. After the defeat of finian’s rainbow, perceived as the home side’s best chance in the Champion Chase, by Somersby in the victor Chandler Chase and before the Tied Cottage Chase, Ireland’s best 2m chasers Sizing europe and Big Zeb, with remarkably similar career records, had been vying for favouritism for the Cheltenham title. But in the Punchestown contest, Sizing europe pulled ahead, on the ground and in the markets. Last year’s winner of the Champion Chase, an Irish-bred son of Pistolet Bleu, left his predecessor at The festival trailing 15l in his wake. The 10-yearold, trained in County Waterford by Henry De Bromhead for the Potts family, is a year younger than his rival and appears to revel in the Cheltenham challenge – he won the Arkle Trophy at the Festival two years ago – and his star still seems on the rise. The ryanair Chase, at the intermediate distance of 2m5f, is the newest of the senior championships, due to be run as a Grade 1 for the fifth time this year. Somersby became one of the home side’s leading hopes when he finally broke his Grade 1 duck at Ascot, after near-misses that included a short-head defeat
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ITB_feb_section2.indd 23 International t'bred 2012.Craven.breeze.up.indd 1
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Bearstone ITB 03-12:Layout 1
9/2/12
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Page 1
BEARSTONE STUD WHERE QUALITY MEETS VALUE
FIREBREAK Group 1 Millionaire Miler - Group 1 Sire The Leading Sire of 2YO's in GB since 2009 by % Stakes winners to runners Another hugely successful year in 2011, highlighted by the speedy Group class two-year-old Caledonia Lady and a yearling average at the major sales of over £33,000 - more than 11x their covering fee
INDESATCHEL Classic-placed dual Group winner A fast emerging son of sire of sires Danehill Dancer, and with a growing reputation His impressive two year old strike rate in 2011 equalled the achievements of Royal Applause and Kheleyf and his yearlings made up to almost £40,000
MAJOR CADEAUX Top class sprinter/miler and multiple Group winner An exceptional son of an exceptional sire with his first yearlings in 2012 Too good on the racecourse for Dutch Art (champion 1st crop sire in 2011) and Holy Roman Emperor (champion 2nd crop and 2yo sire in 2011) and now off to a flying start at stud His first foals averaged 17,167 gns almost 5x their covering fee
All £3,500 Oct 1st Live Foal Free Return Special Offer for 2012 'Free Keep Fees' for visiting mares... ...now limited availability Enquiries: Terry or Margaret Holdcroft or Mark Pennell, Bearstone Stud, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 4HF Office: 44 (0)1630 647197 Mobile: 44 (0)7974 948755 e: enquiries@bearstonestud.co.uk w: www.bearstonestud.co.uk
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racing action
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Among Bob Back’s prospects for the Cheltenham Festival are two approaching banker material, Boston Bob and Bob’s Worth
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in the same race 12 months previously and a close second to Sizing Europe in the Arkle Trophy two years ago. He was, remarkably, his trainer Henrietta Knight’s first top-level success for seven years and should the Second Empire gelding take Knight back to the winners’ enclosure and those glory days of Best Mate, it will be the feelgood fairytale of the meeting.
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wo of Ireland’s hopes presented their credentials at Fairyhouse as Blazing Tempo completed her hat-trick in the Normans Grove Chase, relegating runner-up Noble Prince to three second places in a row after two defeats by Big Zeb. Noble Prince, however, kept his place as one of the Cheltenham favourites – last year he won the Festival’s Jewson Chase over two and a half miles after a similar build-up of a couple of defeats over shorter. The result of the Normans Grove Chase was very much a reflection of a phenomenon that had its origins at the Cheltenham Festival 15 years ago when a young hurdler named Istabraq gave a glimpse of the future in the Royal SunAlliance Hurdle, the preface to his three Champion Hurdles. Istabraq, bred for the Flat, was, of course, by Sadler’s Wells. And soon after a son of the great stallion became a “must-have” in jumping circles, triggering an influx into the pool of those Northern Dancer-Fairy Bridge genes in a variety of shapes, sizes and manifestations of talent and soundness. Some proved top-class jump sires, others did not. But, even away from the mainstream, the SW influence pops up again and again in the best jumping contests from both Flat and jump stallions and sometimes from the most obscure sources, as the table here shows. And that Normans Grove Chase? The first four were all by different Sadler’s Wells stallions: Blazing Tempo by Accordion, Noble
Prince by Montjeu, Tranquil Sea by Sea Raven and Psycho by Dr Massini. The peerless Sadler’s Wells broke most records during his long and honourable stud career, but it was not until late December last year that even he was admitted to a final exclusive club with only 12 other members. The victory of his son Synchronised in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown did the trick enabling the 14-times Flat champion to join the list of stallions who have on their cvs winners at the top level on the Flat, over hurdles and over fences. Credit where credit is due: Be My Guest, Be My Native, Bob Back, Bustino, Exit To Nowhere, High Line, Kahyasi, King’s Theatre, Monsun, Shareef Dancer, Shernazar and Turtle Island are the others. All were high-class Flat runners, who started their second careers as Flat sires and their names a balance between those who remained on their original course, incidentally producing one or two who did well over obstacles, and those who diverted to jumping. Be My Guest, for instance, belongs in the former category with a host of Group 1 winners but only Upgrade as a Grade 1 winner over both hurdles and fences. As does Shareef Dancer, who had only Mudahim at the highest level in the alternative disciplines, and Monsun, with only Foreman and Shot From The Hip, though he is still counting. Be My Native, five times a jump champion, had just the one Group 1 winner – Artan in Italy. The admirable Bob Back, a contemporary of Sadler’s Wells also had just the one, St Leger hero Bob’s Return, and though he never featured in the top three in the jump sires’ table that was only due to a lack of quantity, not quality. Among Bob Back’s prospects for the Cheltenham Festival are two approaching banker material, Boston Bob and Bob’s Worth. King’s Theatre had only King’s Drama in the US at the highest grade on the Flat, but is another to have proved top-class with his chasers and hurdlers. He was third in last year’s championship and is making a real push for glory this time with horses such as Fingal Bay, Cue Card, Voler La Vedette, Riverside Theatre, Menorah and Captain Chris. Three names can be singled out as having further exclusivity, with Grade 1 bumper winners to add to the other three specialities. Bob Back and King’s Theatre are two; the identity of the third is less obvious – Shernazar, who had limited opportunities under both codes, supplied Kartajana (Flat), Hairy Molly (bumper), Zafarabad (hurdles), and Chirkpar and The Railway Man (fences).
Graded jumps winners by Sadler’s Wells etc continued... OSCAR 1994; Grange, Co Cork Big Zeb, Black Jack Ketchum, Casey Jones, Minella Class, Offshore Account, Oscar Dan Dan, Oscars Well, Oscar Whisky, Peddlers Cross, Refinement, Silent Oscar, Arteea, Baltiman, Conem, Days Hotel, Dooney's Gate, Escrea, Footy Facts, Hold The Pin, Mattock Ranger, Old Flame, On The Other Hand, Oscar Looby, Oscar Rebel, Oscar Time, Ray Boy, Razor Royale, The Bishop Looney, Tricky Trickster, Whiteoak. PARTHIAN SPRINGS 1991; Blakeley, Shropshire Spring the Que, Molly's Boy PIERRE bay 1997 Knockmullen House, Co Wexford Ballyagran, Inoma James, Pedrobob. POLIGLOTE bay 1992; d'Etreham, Normandy Lingo, Butler's Cabin, Hinterland, Spirit River, Spirit Son. PORTRAIT GALLERY grey 1990; Kilfeacle, Co Tipperary Portrait King. SADDLERS' HALL bay 1988 (died 2008); Grange, Co Cork Jandali, Mick The Man, Topacio, Operation Houdini, Bambootcha, Major Sensation, Master Of The Hall, Saddlers Storm, Silence Reigns, Teatraal, The Long Haul. SEA RAVEN bay 1991; Barbados. Tranquil Sea SCENIC bay 1986 (died 2005); Durham Lodge, Australia Tuco, Gralmano SHOLOKHOV bay 1999; Etzean, Germany Don Cossack, Sweet Shock SINGSPIEL bay 1992 (died 2010); Kildangan, Co Kildare Fisher Bridge, Junior, Prima Vista THOWRA 1986; East Lynch, Somerset Cardinal Hill TILLERMAN 1996; La Penuccia, Italy Tillahow TOBOUGG 2003; Clarendon, Wiltshire Bouggler, Save My Blushes, WINGED LOVE 1996; Tullyraine, Co Down Bostons Angel, Cherub, Twist Magic, Magnanimity, Premier Victory.
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A stallion monopoly
John Sparkman sees the early Derby preps revolve largely around just one sire: Darley’s Bernardini
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he US breeding industry anointed 2006 champion three-year-old Bernardini as the next great sire when he retired to Darley’s Lexington outpost in 2007, with breeders sending many of their best mares to the Darley homebred despite his initial $100,000 stud fee. There were plenty of reasons for that kind of investment. His sire, the 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, was a two-time leading sire and earlier, less talented sons such as Pulpit, Old Trieste and Stephen Got Even were already showing great promise at stud. Bernardini himself had won six of eight starts, including the Preakness Stakes (G1), Travers Stakes (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), beaten only on his first start and his last when jockey Javier Castellano moved too early in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), leaving the colt with nothing in the tank when Invasor challenged late. A drop-dead gorgeous physical specimen, Bernardini’s multiple Grade 1-winning dam, Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American, came from one of the most productive families in the US Stud Book, the line descending from Fast Line, by Mr. Busher, that also includes European
stalwarts Northern Trick, Light Shift, Dai Jin, Worthadd and Muhtathir. With four Grade 1 or Group 1 winners in his first crop and a handful of Triple Crown hopefuls in his second, it is beginning to look like breeders made the right call on Bernardini. To Honor And Serve and Stay Thirsty from his first crop are genuinely good horses, while Theyskens’ Theory, Biondetti, and Gamilati all have shown that Bernardini is an effective sire for Europe as well. Bernardini’s second-crop sons Alpha and Algorithms have effectively dominated the early Kentucky Derby (G1) preps on the East Coast this winter, and if one or both of them follows through on his early promise, it won’t be long before Bernardini emulates his sire and grandsire Seattle Slew by leading the US sires’ list. Darley’s homebred Alpha (out of Munnaya, by Nijinsky) was the most promising US colt to run in Godolphin’s silks last
year, winning his debut at Saratoga and running second to the top-class Union Rags in the Champagne Stakes (G1), but he threw a fit in the gate at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and finished a long way behind Hansen and Union Rags. Slots-boosted purses induced trainer Kiaran McGlaughlin to keep Alpha in New York for the winter, and he dominated the two early preps, winning the mile Count Fleet Stakes (G3) in January and the Withers Stakes (G3) in February. Alpha is scheduled to appear next in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) in April where he just might meet Algorithms (out of Ava Knowsthecode, by Cryptoclearance), who has been just as dominant in two starts in Florida. One of the least expensive yearlings from Bernardini’s first crop at $170,000 at Saratoga, Algorithms broke his maiden at Belmont Park last June, but did not run again until December when he beat another highly regarded Darley-bred Bernardini, Consortium (Marietta, by Machiavellian) at Gulfstream Park. Algorithms started second favourite to champion juvenile Hansen off that effort in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) on January 29, and handed the champ his first defeat, sweeping by in the stretch for a 5l win. As usual, Algorithms’s trainer Todd Pletcher has a half-dozen or so Derby candidates in his shedrow and he will try to spread
Bernardini: Sparkman reckons it won’t be long before the Darley son of A.P. Indy heads the US sires’ table
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Royal Delta: Bill Mott’s runner is heading to the Dubai World Cup, but Sparkman believes that the trainer’s To Honor And Serve is a more worthy candidate
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Animal Kingdom should be right at home on the Tapeta surface at Meydan, but Royal Delta has yet to tackle a synthetic surface
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them around the country and get as many as possible to the big race. Algorithms’s jockey, Javier Castellano, was also the regular rider of Union Rags last year and created quite a stir when he chose the Bernardini colt over Michael Matz’s big son of Dixie Union. What that really means, though, is that Castellano, who seems to have replaced John Velazquez as Pletcher’s rider of choice, will likely have his pick of the Pletcher brigade, which includes the promising El Padrino, by Pulpit, the brilliantly fast Discreet Dancer, by Discreet Cat, Gemologist, by Tiznow, and Spring Hill Farm, by Smart Strike, all of whom are soon to appear in Kentucky Derby prep races from coast to coast. Discreet Cat, another young Darley sire, is also sire of one of the most promising Triple Crown candidates on the West Coast, Godolphin’s Out Of Bounds. A son of Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Unbridled Elaine, by Unbridled’s Song, Out Of Bounds broke his maiden at Santa Anita in December and then caught Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle in the final strides of the Sham Stakes (G3) on January 7. That was probably the second most impressive performance by a three-year-old this year at Santa Anita behind the Flower
Alley colt I’ll Have Another (out of the Arch mare Arch’s Gal Edith), who beat Royal Delta’s rapidly improving little brother Empire Way (Empire Maker) by 3l in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) in February. Royal Delta, a $8.5 million purchase, is to prep for the Dubai World Cup in the Sabin Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream, the result of which you will know by the time you read this copy. What has happened there, although Royal Delta’s victory in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (G1) was visually impressive, her opposition was not that strong; it is hard to imagine that she would be good enough to
win a World Cup in a good year. Last year’s Kentucky Derby winner and champion three-year-old Animal Kingdom, , though probably is, if he shows that he has retained his form in his four-year-old debut on the same day. The Leroidesanimaux colt, a winner in February of an optional claiming race at Gulfstream, should be at home on the Tapeta surface at Meydan, but Royal Delta has yet to tackle a synthetic surface. America’s other two 2011 Classic winners Shackleford and Ruler On Ice finished far down the field in the race that has often served as the most reliable US guide to the World Cup, the Donn Handicap (G1). The winner was Stuart Janney’s Hymn Book (Arch), a lightly raced, late-developing six-year-old gelding, who beat five-yearold Grade 3 winner Mission Impazible (Unbridled’s Song) by a last-gasp nose. Hymn Book had finished second to To Honor And Serve in the Cigar Mile (G1), who would be a serious candidate for the World Cup indeed, should trainer Bill Mott, who also trains Royal Delta, decide to send him. As a son of Bernardini out of Pilfer, by Deputy Minister, with a Grade 1 win at a mile on his record, To Honor And Serve has better credentials than his stablemate for the World Cup.
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ap mccoy
Meeting McCoy Tim Williams is in his second year at Oxford University studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics. His sideline at college is as news editor for The Oxford Student newspaper. When he was given the task by his editor to find an inspirational sportsperson to interview, as a self-proclaimed “racing fanatic”, Williams did not have to think too hard – AP McCoy was the obvious choice, and Racing for Change helped get the two together. Our ever-helpful Champion Jockey found time for the aspiring racing journalist to meet him, before the first on a certain injury-inflicted day’s racing at Taunton... This feature was printed in The Oxford Student and we have reproduced it in its entirety here. We would like to thank the newspaper’s editor for allowing us to use the article written by Williams – and would like to recommend more frequent use of horseracing features in the paper, as well as encouraging him through his editorial to persuade the Oxford students to leave the city’s bars and enjoy a day’s racing – Stratford, Newbury, Windsor, Towcester, Warwick racecourses are an easy drive or train ride away! We would also like to thank AP for being, well, AP and for not only being such a wonderful sportsman and ambassador for racing, but also for finding the time for a student interview – many such busy people would find plenty of reasons not to bother. It was just very lucky Williams spoke to the Champ at the beginning of that day rather than the end! 28
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I
t was lucky I interviewed him in the morning; that afternoon AP McCoy was ambulanced to hospital with broken ribs after getting kicked by his horse and missing the final of his four rides of the day at Taunton. Some people would question why he was even in Somerset that day. McCoy has ridden 3,000 horses to victory, been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and is regarded by many as one of the greatest sportspeople of all time; what is he doing in the bitter cold and rain at a minor race meeting, just two days after riding in Ireland? “I wonder that myself here sometimes,” he jokes. “No, I’m very lucky that I enjoy what I do, so the self-motivation comes from that.” He may be in the public eye more often than he used to be, “but my attitude and perception to it hasn’t changed and it’s the same now for me as when I started riding. Just because I’ve been lucky enough to win a lot and win a lot of things, I don’t think it’s any different.” Anthony Peter McCoy, better known throughout his sport as Tony, AP or “the Champ” grew up in Northern Ireland and rode his first winner aged 17. After moving to the mainland it took him just two years to become champion jump jockey and he has remained so in all of the 16 years since, winning every major race there is to win – a set finally completed by his victory in the 2010 Grand National. His success is all the more remarkable because he has often missed months of a year through injury, yet still rides more winners than anyone else. He says there is no secret to his success, just sheer hard work. “It’s kind of self-taught,” he admits. “When I started off riding I looked at the people who were at the top. You try and learn from them and hopefully get to a stage where you can do things as well as they did.” His earliest employer, trainer Jim Bolger, was a “perfectionist who
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ap mccoy
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I go out on a few favourites at Taunton and the people of Taunton won’t give a hoot if I’m Sports Personality of the Year or not if I don’t win anything; that’s basically the long and short of it
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always made sure you did things right”. “Sometimes I go racing and only ride one horse,” he adds. “I could get other rides, but I don’t want to be going out on a horse in the mindset that it doesn’t really have a chance of winning because I think when you go out in that mindset it’s very hard to get out of it. I want to go out with the mindset that every horse I’m riding has a realistic chance of winning.” McCoy maintains that if he were not champion jockey he would immediately retire – a claim that has never been tested. So the reason he’s at Taunton is because he could win. It didn’t quite turn out that way – beaten twice, he was then put out of action for a month with broken ribs. Doesn’t he get nervous? Probably, helpfully, he has managed to exclude the thought of serious injury from his mind: “I don’t actually feel, in a silly kind of way, that there are risks. If whatever’s going to happen to me is going to happen to me, then that’s just the way it is. As a jump jockey you can’t expect not to end up in the back of an
ambulance and some days it’s going to be worse than others.” Just studying his face tells a story. His previously-broken cheekbones are nearly non-existent and sink below his eyes, above the left one of which is a bruise – “I got a kick the other day” – which recently caused a stir on Twitter when he presented an award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. At the previous year’s awards gala, his courage and success were rewarded as he was recognised alongside David Beckham and
Steve Redgrave as a British sporting legend. Yet he still appears slightly star struck and is extremely dismissive when I suggest he’s in the same category as Tiger Woods and Roger Federer – winners who have dominated their discipline for a long time. “It was a fantastic and prestigious award to be able to receive, but I don’t even feel as though I’m any different or any better than the other people that I work with or work for. “As far as I’m concerned, I go out on a few favourites at Taunton and the people
The student’s view on racing... Where does your interest in racing stem from? My dad is a big racing fan and is probably responsible for getting my brother and I watching in front of the TV as children. Neither of us has ever sat on a racehorse or gambled big money, but we enjoy going to point-to-points and to tracks such as Wincanton, Taunton and Cheltenham. Living in Somerset, it’s probably the best place to be for NH racing – a few people at school were sons or daughters of trainers and jockeys – and I remember going to a Paul Nicholls open day and patting See More Business just after he won the Gold Cup – I must have been about nine years old but still remember it. Do many of your friends and family watch / follow the racing? Not enough. Hardly any of my friends actually follow racing properly or have any basic knowledge of jockeys, horses or the big races, which is a shame. If that’s the same for most others like me then it might explain why racing has such a successful presence on outlets like twitter – where people can find others who follow racing and chat and blog about it together. There’s also a huge amount of people who own or ride horses, or go to point-to-points, but don’t follow racing. They need to be made interested. If you try and persuade a non-racing friend to go racing with you, what is the main argument to encourage them to go? It’s a lot easier with somewhere like Cheltenham, where you can sell the atmosphere, facilities and quality racing. It’s harder for an orgy of Class 6 events on a cold Wednesday, but it does provide a relaxed and lengthy day out – lasting longer than a football match, say – and you can get to see the horses and jockeys up close. There are usually plenty of bars as well, which is always a good selling point!
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For young people, what are the attractions or otherwise of racing? Racing is, in my view, the most unpredictable mainstream sport in the world and a stunning viewing spectacle. If Man Utd go 2-0 up in 20 minutes against Wolves, it’s game over. Now imagine Kauto Star 10l clear with three to jump in the Gold Cup – it’s far more exciting. Gambling is closely connected to racing and you might be surprised at just how popular that is at universities, particularly games such as Poker. The idea that you can follow a sport closely and win money from it (not that I often do!) would be attractive to students. How is the sport perceived? If they asked on Family Fortunes to name something you’d associate with horseracing, you’d get “The Grand National’”, “The Derby”, “Frankie Dettori”, “A hat”“Bookies’” and “John McCririck”. It’s definitely improving and modernising, but I still think too many people believe Royal Ascot and the Grand National are how racing always is. AP McCoy’s victory in Sports Personality of the Year really helped as it made people ask “Who’s he?” and then finding out a bit about the sport in the process. They then realise that it’s not just a load of old rich buffers shouting tally-ho, but rather a serious sport with lots of young men and women putting in hard work and aiming towards the big days. Is the sport attractive to / followed by young people from all backgrounds? I can’t speak with wide knowledge on this, but would guess that top hats can make it seem inaccessible to some. Without wanting to sound crass, there are hardly any black people at the top of racing – be it officials, jockeys, trainers or owners. Whether that
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ap mccoy of Taunton won’t give a hoot if I’m Sports Personality of the Year or not if I don’t win anything, that’s basically the long and short of it. It’s not about what’s in the past. Everyone wants to win today, they don’t care about who won yesterday.” The past year has been a turbulent one for horseracing, which sits as the second mostwatched sport in the UK. McCoy’s Sports Personality win brought more sought-after attention for the sport, but it also highlighted sensitive issues. The Grand National in April, in which McCoy finished third, was followed by a PR crisis where complaints flooded in about the use of the whip and horse fatalities, creating front page headlines to which the governing authorities initially struggled to respond. Fatalities are racing’s toughest topic. “It’s not nice. The more you can try and distance yourself from it the better, but it’s the worst part of the job. It’s like every walk of life, there will always be accidents and fatalities no matter what you’re involved in. It is a dangerous sport and it happens, but you have is an issue or not, I don’t know. Have any of your friends become racing fans after being newly introduced to the sport? Nil to my knowledge. Some might watch the Derby after I tell them to, but that’s as far as it goes. What improvements do you think could be made to make the sport more attractive to young people – on and off the racecourse? This is something I feel strongly about. They have to know what’s going on – otherwise it’s just horses going round and round. I showed my friend a video of last year’s Gold Cup – he was bored by it simply because it looked like just another horse race. It’s like watching a football match you know nothing about – dull. If you know the teams playing then it gets more interesting. That’s what I liked about the British Champions Series – it simplified races into categories and there was a fantastic website where you could go and quickly see who the best horses were in each and follow their progress. So when there’s big family crowds, I’d like to see free small cards or leaflets distributed with “jockeys to follow” or simply explaining how the racing season is structured – something that the kids might read in the car on the way home. Just leaving them with the feeling of a “nice day out” is not good enough. Another thing to get schoolchildren going racing is to hold more events on weekends, bank holidays and make sure there’s lots of meetings on during the school holidays. As soon as there’s a meeting on a school day, like the Peterborough Chase, you’ve excluded all the non-truanting kids from going, which benefits nobody. If you take a new person to the races (if you have), how easy is it for them to understand the sport, know what’s going on? It’s difficult to get them any further than randomly choosing a horse, betting on it and listening to the commentator to tell them how it’s doing.
The ultimate competitor: McCoy shows just what it meant to him to win the 2010 Grand National on Don’t Push It
It’s probably expensive to trial, but if there were two racecards – one normal and one for beginners – that might help a bit. Were your non-racing friends aware of AP McCoy before your piece? And do they know of Frankie Dettori? Henry Cecil? Frankel? Someone congratulated me on my interview with Frankie Dettori, which was interesting considering it was with AP McCoy! The simple answer is no, hardly anyone has heard of Frankel, Henry Cecil – lots of people hadn’t even heard of McCoy until Sports Personality and Dettori is probably just as famous for going on A Question of Sport. For the average student, how does racing compare with other sports and pastimes? – cost mainly… Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t think it’s too bad compared to other sports. Racing also has great free-to-air live TV coverage for all the main meetings. Some courses do student discounts – the rest should follow their lead. What are your / friends’ thoughts on dress codes? I think dressing up in the summer is very popular and, after seeing the crowd at Chester last year, I reckon it might attract people who wouldn’t otherwise go. I’m personally not a fan of dress codes – they make it look a bit old-fashioned – and reckon “dress for the weather” is the best policy. How accessible was AP, a top sportsman, for an interview? He was fantastic. I organised it through Racing for Change, who were extremely helpful, and we did it just before he was riding at Taunton. I’m not sure all top sportsmen are that accessible. Would you like to work in racing? What is the dream job? My plan is to train as a journalist when I leave Oxford and I’d love to present Channel 4 Racing or be a general news broadcast journalist, but it’s extremely competitive! PR also interests me and working on a project to sell racing to a new audience sounds very attractive. Tim Williams
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ap mccoy
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Students just want an enjoyable day out and if they think it’s going to be too expensive before they’ve even come into the races then they’re going to be put off
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n an astonishing few days, the prospect of jockeys going on strike put racing in the news again for the wrong reasons. “I think the main reason was the severity of the penalties for breaking rules, which were just brought in overnight,” explains McCoy. “The rules were trying to change how experienced jockeys have ridden over the years and there were very experienced jockeys, who had never had a whip ban in their life, and now suddenly were getting them.” The strike was narrowly averted and gradually the rules are being accepted. The big challenge for the new leadership will come in March’s Cheltenham Festival, the Olympics of horseracing, where jockeys will be trying their utmost to win. “If you ask us would you rather win the Grand National or rather win at Cheltenham then most of us would rather win at Cheltenham,” says McCoy, depsite having ewon the National last year. “The Grand National is only the biggest spectacle as far as horseracing is concerned for the reasons that the people who don’t really have an interest in the sport watch it on that one day.” Getting new people into racing on a regular basis has been on the agenda in recent years, with the creation of Racing for Change. McCoy admits he’s never paid to get into a raceday, but when I ask him how the sport could be better sold to students he says that cost is still a problem. “I think for what’s on offer in midweek it should be about getting people into the racecourse, even if it’s for free and then trying to get them to spend money when they’re in,” he reasons. “Students just want an enjoyable day out and if they think it’s going to be too expensive before they’ve even come into the races then they’re going to be put off.” McCoy’s lifestyle is bizarre to say the least. When I push him on what he’ll eat today he tells me that, because he doesn’t need to get down to a low weight (the lowest he’s due to
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The glamorous side of life as a champion jockey: Tony McCoy and wife Chanelle at the 2012 Laureus World Sports Awards Photo: PA
ride at today, including his miniature saddle, is 11st2lb), he can treat himself to a proper meal. So far he seems pretty chuffed to have had a piece of toast and two cups of tea. When he’s getting down to ride 10st he sometimes survives off a lettuce and diet coke. “I think it’s like anything. Your body gets used to it. It’s basically the way I’ve been trained to live if you like. When you can have days where you can actually eat something nice you should do, because it’s not meant to be possible to actually stick to a strict diet forever – your head can’t cope with it and you end up depressed.” When I see him, his five most recent race days have been London, Ireland, Ireland, Yorkshire and Somerset consecutively. There is no summer break in racing – his rest only comes when he’s injured or suspended. His life is slightly more stable, however, now that he has daughter Eve and wife Chanelle to go back to every night. “Having a daughter has made my job easier because there were times in the past that if I had bad days I wouldn’t be the easiest person to live with and I would dwell on it for the night until I had another go the next day.” As a young rider, he had always planned to
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to deal with it and move on, you can’t dwell on things.” The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) did respond in October with new rules on the whip, which included much more strict rules and harsher penalties. It is widely accepted that, when used correctly, the cushioned whip, designed with help from the RSPCA, is harmless and at times needed for safety. Many jockeys were frustrated by the changes, feeling they were being fined and suspended just to placate an uneducated public.
retire from riding aged 35. “That went out the window,” he laughs. “I just thought that was a good number and a good idea, but it would be a lot easier to stop if I didn’t enjoy what I do.” Now 37, he believes he’ll definitely finish within five years. “I won’t be riding when I’m 42, not when I’m that old.” What does someone who has lived the dream, and suffered the diet and constant self-torture to make it, do when they stop? Immediately he has an answer, which shows off his quiet sense of humour: “Literally, when I’ve finished riding I’m going to play golf for six months. That’s what I’m gonna do, have lots of sunny holidays for about six months and see what happens then.” After that? “Do you know what, I’ve actually never thought about it. Obviously I love racing, but I love sport in general so who knows, I couldn’t just walk away from racing and do something else. I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I won’t be training racehorses, that’s for sure!” In an era of pampered sports stars demanding higher wages to play play fewer games and feigning injuries, McCoy is the ultimate reassurance that there are successful people out there who do what they do because they love it; he wants to ride as much as he possibly can and, as soon as he can’t, struggles like mad to do so again. A couple hours after I speak to him, he is kicked into the muddy turf, receiving three broken ribs which doctors later tell him will put him out of action for a month. In a scene which sums him up entirely he resists the help of a stretcher, gingerly picks himself up and, breathing in a whiff of oxygen, walks into the ambulance. Later that night he tweeted: “Broke a few ribs so not 2 bad and hopefully back 2 work very soon just need the doctor 2 let me out of the hospital now and I’ll be happy.” When I first met him that day he’d humbly joked, “you’ve got to do a good job telling lies about me”. But when you hear about McCoy, the truth is sometimes hard to believe.
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Beat-Ho
BOB BACK...KING’S THEATRE... THE NEXT TOP SIRE AT BALLYLINCH
BEAT HOLLOW By Sadler’s Wells (sire of King’s Theatre) ex Wemyss Bight
A GR.1 SIRE UNDER BOTH RULES Four-time Gr.1 winner and Classic placed Dam Classic winning full sister to the dam of OASIS DREAM Full brother to COURT CAVE (sire of CHAMPION COURT) and ⁄4 brother to the dam of leading French jumps sire, MARTALINE
3
His recent successes include:
ON THE FLAT
OVER JUMPS
HOLLOW TREE winner of the Gr.1 Finale Hurdle
CINDERS AND ASHES winner of the Gr.2 Supreme Trial Hurdle
SEA MOON
Gr.2 winner and placed in the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Turf and Gr.1 St Leger
BEATEN UP
unbeaten winner of the Gr.3 St Simon Stakes (TFR 123+)
BALLYLINCH STUD
Tel: 056-7724217 • Fax: 056-7724624 E-mails: info@ballylinchstud.ie davidmyerscough@ballylinchstud.ie michaelryan@ballylinchstud.ie • www.ballylinchstud.com
ITB_feb_section2.indd 33 Beat-Hollow_Int_Thoro_Mar_2012.indd 1
Fee:
€6,000 (1st October)
27/2/12 17:49:19 17/2/12 15:04:22
racing internet
“Inter”the future... Sally Duckett looks at the reasons behind racing’s internet and social media explosion and suggests a Racing Internet Day witter, Then, in part 1 of our look at how facebook, webcams, sales video, companies in racing view online form and Apps. The sport of the world of the web, horseracing for all of its old-world traditions has embraced the growing we ask the auction and developing world of new media. houses where And this perhaps is something of a they are heading surprise. While those online working in commercial
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roles in the sport have quickly embraced the rapid dissemination of information that twitter and the like allow, many of those who work full time with horses and in outside roles and traditionally have a hatred of all things
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“office” are becoming social media afficionados. Many who perhaps would not have dared to have go near a computer before – jockeys, stud owners, lads – are uploading, tweeting and retweeting on smart phones The racing industry works well on the internet. As one, it is a huge international sport, industry and entertainment, but it is also a web (coincindentally) consisting of many likeminded individuals operating their own training or stud businesses in isolation. Working alone or concentrating on the one business can become hugely one-dimensional – the internet now offers many outlets to the bigger world allowing rapid and timely contact with other likeminded individuals for reasons ranging from targeted marketing, discussion of important issues to light-hearted gossip. And with the appropriate smart phone or iPad, updates can be done on the move, so for jockeys with time on their hands when going racing, trainers waiting for strings on the gallops, bloodstock agents at the sales, stud men waiting for foals; twitter, facebook andother soial media options are the perfect medium. Social media allows cheap targeted marketing for smaller companies who would otherwise need to employ expensive internet updates for their websites. But there is much more to the
racing internet internet than just gossip and the telling of marketing tales. With the ongoing progress of technology, watching live coverage of bloodstock sales on the other side of the world is no longer a jumpy, stop-start TV experience, while local and international form lines can be dissected by watching archived races and researching databases. There is no substitute for seeing a horse race live, or viewing a horse in the flesh at the
sales, but at least the homework can be done before; this ability to spread information – the integral life blood of racing for either betting, buying or discussion purposes – around the globe as fast as an internet connection will allow, has to be viewed as a vital component for the future of the sport and industry. And without any particular edict, the sport is proactively promoting – Frankel and Kauto have both appeared as top trends
on twitter. So what is the task for all of us in racing? It is to bring the outsider, the non-racing person into the online chat. While it is fantastic to all talk to one another, telling each other how good our own horses, sires, jockeys and sales are (after all we are all buyers, end users and racing enthusiasts alike) we need to spread that news to those on the outside of our industry. With so much chat involved
in racing, with these new online methods of discussion, it does mean that a previously perhaps unapproachable sport can be made far more user-friendly. Alongside the Super Saturdays, racing Festivals, premier sales, we think it is time to have Racing Internet Day. Maybe coinciding with a big day’s racing, but give everyone who is active in the world of social media the task of bringing one new person into their chat world.
Jason Singh: Tattersalls marketing manager How has the Tattersalls online offering changed over the last five years? We’ve introduced the Tattersalls Blog, which provides a quick overview of what is happening during the sales, launched Facebook and Twitter presences and created Sale Day Live to offer visitors everything they need whilst a sale is on in one place. What are the greatest benefits / drawbacks of the internet for a company such as Tattersalls. The great thing about the internet is it allows you to get the information you are looking for quickly and simply. With limited time between the publication of a catalogue and a sale, it allows clients to start working on a catalogue before it’s even been printed. How, as a % outline, how has the Tattersalls online spend increased over the same period? I would say it’s as much about the change in the proportion of our time that we spend doing things for online consumption rather than the amount of money. Keeping the website, and Facebook and Twitter feeds up to date is something that involves weekends as well as weekdays. How important a part of your Tattersalls marketing budget is your online spend now? We have spent quite a bit of money developing the back-end database, which means that anytime any change in sales results happens in the office, it is instantly reflected on
the Tattersalls website. That is the same for withdrawals. The instant it has been put on our database, it is online. Our customers enjoy having the instant info. With the ever-changing and developing nature of the web, is it just a never-ending expense, just trying to keep up with the latest developments? Technology is always changing and the internet is no different to that. There are lots of systems that we need to update from time to time and so, yes, we have to keep an eye on what the latest trends are. Developing the iPad/iPhone App is a perfect example: four years ago no one had a smart phone, now everyone does and so it is important to make sure that you are providing them information in a manner that people find useful. Does your company use social media? How do you find it beneficial? Or is it a time waster? Yes absolutely. We use both Twitter and Facebook. The number of people who are active on these platforms has grown exponentially and it’s important that we allow people to receive information from us via these if they want. It also allows us to send out information that might not justify a full press release, but is something worth mentioning via social media. Do you find email marketing techniques effective? Well it’s an interesting question. We are able to send out a direct email to around 6,000 people who are on
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racing internet our email database and who have asked to be on it. That is a pretty large number of people who you are directly communicating with. How many of them read what you send them? Not all, of course, but it’s undoubtedly got a higher success rate than advertising in a newspaper and of course it doesn’t cost anything. The thing we are always trying to be careful of though is that we don’t overdo the emails. No one wants to receive too many. Can your work out the ROI? Do you try? It can be difficult to work out whether a lot of marketing is effective, but we keep an eye on the number of users we have on Twitter and Facebook, as well as the number of email subscribers we have and that gives us a good idea about whether we are doing the right thing or not.
Have you reduced your print spend (advertising and catalogues) concentrating on online versions instead? As mentioned previously, it’s certainly more of an issue, especially when one form doesn’t cost anything. But it’s about reaching as much of your target audience as possible and trying to do it in a frugal manner. Each year we look at and re-assess what print advertising we do and it has certainly reduced in the past few years. How do you ensure that print and web advertising complement each other? Adverts that we run in a paper we often send out to our email database as well. The differences tend to be mainly based on the medium that we are advertising in. What looks good in a newspaper doesn’t necessarily work in an email
and vice versa. What are the benefits to Tattersalls of its “app” and having its own sale day live feature? The Tattersalls App does differ from other sales companies as we take the opinion that the time it will want to be used most is when potential buyers are at Tattersalls looking at horses and want up-todate information on withdrawals and updates straight from their phone or want sales results straight away. The ‘Sale Day Live’ feature grew when we decided to start a blog during the sales. The one thing that is a little bit of a pain to do when following a sale is to have to juggle the different windows. So we decided to put it all in the one place where you could watch and listen to the sale, read the blog and look at the sales results, top tens, withdrawals, updates etc all on the same window without having to open up any other window. Where do you see your app, website, heading in the next few years? Any new developments on the horizon? We’re always looking to add
features to the website and to the Tattersalls App. We’d hope to add some video to the App at some point in the near future, as well as adding some other little tweaks. Can you see a time when printed catalogues might be the exception rather than the rule? There is no doubt that the Equineline Sales App has been a huge success and there are plenty of agents I know who have really taken to it. There is no doubt that it is going to become more popular in the future, but at the moment we haven’t seen any drop in catalogue numbers. Have the catalogues been well received? What improvements would you like to see? It was very noticeable that by December there were quite a lot of agents with iPads using the Equineline Sales App. The iPad is very quickly establishing itself as the tablet of choice and I think by the end of next year you’ll see even more agents using it. Equineline have been listening to suggested changes from different agents and I believe an update to the current App is not too far down the road.
Our three sales men think that the era of the printed catalogue is doomed, yet when we were looking for a generic shot to illustrate someone using an iPad at the sales, we could not find anything. Maybe print is not dead yet... (Prize – not an iPad – to the first person who guesses who this catalogue and arm belongs to...)
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racing internet Would you go down the route of using the “QR Code Enhanced Pedigrees” as used by Fasig? Do you see this as a way forward? We’ve looked at these and at the moment are not intending to use them, but we’ll keep an eye on whether they get more popular. Do you think this greater spread of knowledge, particularly to buyers from abroad, played a part in the upsurge of bloodstock prices last year? It’s difficult to say. Certainly the ability to
communicate with people in remote parts of the world is a lot easier these days than it was in the past. In fact, it’s a lot easier now than it was just -10 years ago so that can only help things. Whether it played a part specifically last year I couldn’t say. Which alternative racing / bloodstock sites do you find most useful / appreciate? The sites I use most are the Racing Post (www. racingpost.co.uk) and Thoroughbred Internet
Henry Beeby: Goffs & DBS CEO
continuing use of this medium. Have you reduced your print spend (catalogues / advertising) concentrating on online versions instead? Not yet, but it is likely to happen in the future.
How has Goffs / DBS online offering changed over the last five years? Goffs/DBS are always looking to move forward so we have kept completely up to date with our online offering. Our current sites are now merged and are more pro-active allowing vendors to make online entries and providing interactive catalogues
How do you ensure that print and web advertising complement each other? Our small marketing departments in both Goffs and DBS control print and web advertising to ensure that they complement each other, but do not cross over where it is not relevant. We have tight controls to ensure that we are getting the best value in each area, whilst we use the same advertising agency for Goffs and DBS to ensure brand consistency. Where do you see your website heading in the next few years? We will continue to develop our websites and embrace each technological advance that appears, always ensuring that they are appropriate for our business. Our websites focus is on providing ease of use and easy interaction with Goffs/DBS for every one of our clients.
How, as a % outline how has the company’s online spend increased over the same period? 200 per cent. How important a part of your company’s marketing budget is your online spend now? Our online spend is a significant part of our marketing budget as the overwhelming majority of our clients and potential clients are online. The added benefit is that there are some savings and we are now able to do more direct marketing With the ever-changing and developing nature of the web, is it just a never-ending expense, just trying to keep up with the latest developments? Yes and no. It would be foolish to ignore new technology as and when it appears, but it is important to analyse the value of each technological advance and its value to our specific business. How important to the companies as a marketing tool was the “merging” of the look of the two company websites? The merging of the Goffs/DBS websites was a key part of the evolution of the Goffs/DBS brand. Goffs and DBS have strong identities, but the overall ethos of horsemanship and customer care are important cornerstones of both businesses. You carry information for both companies on each site – are you planning to include more joint information? As above the Goffs/DBS brands are very strong in their own way, but we have brought them closer together over the last five years. Joint information will be carried when applicable, but it really depends on the relevance to each
(www.thoroughbredinternet.com), as well as The Sporting Life (www.sportinglife.com), which is excellent for keeping up to date with any sporting news. And those out of racing? (keep it clean…!) It goes without saying that Facebook is quite a regular, but I’m a big fan of the myth-busting website Snopes (www.snopes.com) and also regularly use Sky Scanner (www.skyscanner. net), which is great for sourcing flights from all over the world.
company of the other’s information. Does your company use social media? How do you find it beneficial? Or is it a time waster? Yes we use Facebook and Twitter which we find beneficial as they provide an efficient way of disseminating relevant information quickly and efficiently. Do you find email marketing techniques effective? Yes. The key is to keep it relevant as none of us likes getting endless amounts of junk popping up in our inbox. Can you work out the ROI? Do you try? Yes and yes. Our reviews tell us that we are getting a good return on investment, hence our
How popular was the equineline app catalogue? The Equineline Sales App catalogue has proved very popular with those who embrace this type of technology. Weatherbys have done an excellent job in developing the necessary software and we have been pleased to work with them in this connection. Can you see a time when printed catalogues / bloodstock information books are the exception rather than the rule? We expect this will be gradual progression over the years as more and more people start to use and understand this technology. It truly has enormous potential and will reduce our reliance on our rather erratic postal systems. Would you go down the route of using the “QR Code Enhanced Pedigrees” as Fasig trialled in the autumn? We will certainly look at the QR Codes Enhanced Pedigrees and consider introducing them if we think they are relevant and will be a beneficial add-on for our clients.
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racing internet Do you think this greater spread of knowledge, particularly to buyers from abroad, played a part in the upsurge of bloodstock prices last year? Not really. It is the quality of the bloodstock that is being offered that counts and bloodstock agents have always worked hard to ensure they have all the information to hand. Advances in technology may make acquiring that
information easier, but we have to remember that our business is all about the horse. Which alternative racing bloodstock sites do you find most useful / appreciate? Racing Post, Weatherbys, Thoroughbred Internet, Thoroughbred Business Guide etc... And those out of racing? (keep it clean…!) Google is invaluable for just about anything,
Terence Collier: Fasig-Tipton, director of marketing
just as automated telephone services were all the rage before customers started complaining of never speaking to a human, websites are an adjunct to all the services we offer. They are an information tool, they allow us to do business with buyers and sellers 24 hours a day and seven days a week. One of the advancements I hope we can bring in over the next couple of years is a multi-language platform, so that non-English speaking clients can access and enjoy the information and facilities our website provides.
How has Fasig-Tipton’s online offering changed over the last five years? Five years ago, Fasig-Tipton had a very primitive website and now you can fully access catalogues, establish credit, enter horses for sale and proof catalogue pages, among other things. So far, it is hard to identify any drawbacks. How, as a % outline, how has Fasig’s online spend increased over the same period? From zero to around 20 per cent of our current advertising budget. How important a part of Fasig’s marketing budget is your online spend now? Our online spend is in its infancy right now and we are exploring every avenue which presents itself. Specific targeting is the key – there are so many diverse online media channels, it is vital to direct one’s effort where our customers are active. Online media will probably become the dominant element of our advertising. With the ever-changing and developing nature of the web, isn’t it just a never-ending expense, trying to keep up with the latest developments? It is an ongoing expense, but no different than it was 20 years ago when every other call was from traditional print media, direct mail houses or somebody hustling something we couldn’t live without. Times have changed and will continue to change. Keep up or falter. Does your company use social media? How do you find it beneficial? Or is it just a time waster? We do use social media... Thoroughbred sales and related events are very social events and lend themselves well to opportunities such as Facebook. What we provide has to be of interest, up-to-the moment and properly distributed. Social media is a time waster for the sender and the receiver if it is only given a token effort. Can your work out the ROI? Do you try? We have never been able to measure the ROI of our promotional efforts. It is such a mix – branding, awareness, dates of sales. The
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while being a regular traveller I often use airline sites, especially Aer Lingus and Ryanair and, being a regular racergoer too, I regularly use racecourse sites. In connection with the latter some are so much better than others and, from my specialist racing point of view, I wish some would focus on racing and have separate sites for weddings, concerts and non-raceday activities.
success of our sales is the best measure of the effectiveness of our promotion. Are email marketing techniques effective? This is another technique in its infancy. Our marketing team agrees that indiscriminate email blasts are annoying and counter-productive, so we tend to use this tool when we have a targeted audience and a very specific message. Have you reduced your print spend (catalogues, advertising) concentrating on online versions instead? I imagine all thoroughbred sales companies have adjusted their promotional budgets in the light of economic conditions over the past three or four years. We cut back our overall expenditure, but it will increase as market conditions allow. It is my opinion that traditional print spending will assume a smaller percentage in future. How do you ensure that print and web advertising / catalogue printing complement each other? By interfacing our internal marketing team with our external advertising agency and insisting continuity and a consistent design theme to all elements of our promotion. Where do you see your website heading in the next few years? You cannot replace the personal touch, and
What % of buyers / clients do you think are using tablets and Apps and using the equineline app catalogue? Fasig-Tipton can claim some credit for persuading the American Jockey Club to develop Apps that would benefit all sales companies, rather than each developing their own Apps. From everything I hear, both in North America and in Europe, there is increasing traffic and numbers using the Equineline App. The percentage is still low – probably less than 10%, but the learning curve is swift and the advantages considerable. I have even seen people over 50 with an iPad! How popular was the use of the “QR Code Enhanced Pedigrees”? The QR/Barscan pedigree pages have some useful applications, particularly to bring in video and I am sure they will become part of a limited number of our sales. Once again, it is important it becomes a tool, not a gimmick. If it takes the reader away from the page and exposes them to non-useful information, you are driving customers away. Can you see a time when printed catalogues / bloodstock information books are the exception rather than the rule? As much as I personally enjoy the tactile feel of a catalogue and am used to writing my notes down the margin with a quill pen, I am afraid I am like the Dodo bird. Cost, speed, distribution – all of these sound the death knell for a printed catalogue. Which other racing bloodstock sites do you find most useful / appreciate? Without question, at its best, the most amusing site is “Indian Charlie”.
colm murphy
Murphy’s Law
Lissa Oliver visits County Wexford-based trainer Colm Murphy, who is rapidly adding numerous Festival big-race wins to his burgeoning cv
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ot far from the Wexford coast, Colm Murphy’s yard is found tucked away in the most peaceful rural setting imaginable. It’s a traditional yard, with scattered blocks of loose boxes that provide a constant source of companionship and interest for their occupants as they look out over the relaxed daily activity of yard work. It’s clearly the home of a horseman, a working yard almost like any other, if it wasn’t for the impressive door plaques on several of the boxes. They reveal that this is no ordinary yard, with no ordinary inmates. It’s
Big Zeb galloping to Queen Mother Chase glory in 2010
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xcurrently home to a galaxy of NH stars and, looking back through Murphy’s career, this has pretty much been the case from day one. The quiet, unassuming trainer says that he has been very lucky in the horses he has bought over the years, but listening to him talk and watching him train it becomes quite clear that luck has played only a small part. Throughout history the great trainers have been natural horsemen with an inherent skill that cannot be learned or taught; Colm Murphy is just such a man. “We always had cattle and a few horses, as kids we grew up with ponies, so it was very natural for me to go in to training,” says Murphy.
“We were lucky enough to always have a few nice horses; growing up I had the racing bug and rode a few point-to-point winners and rode for Aidan O’Brien in his early years. Looking back, I was lucky enough to get a good Leaving Certificate and I was able to go to college where I did accountancy. “But it was always my intention, like everyone, to get going as a jockey. I rode as an amateur and was very fortunate to ride a lot of bumper winners for Aidan. “When I went to Aidan’s he found out about my accountancy and I ended up working in the office. It wasn’t planned, it just happened. Without a doubt it is a major help; it is the most important part of the operation. “My sister, Mary-Therese, is in the office here, so that’s one headache less for me now. I was with Aidan for six years and probably have the same system of training. I’ve added my own little touches, but basically it’s the same model.” It seems simple fate has been a driving force throughout Murphy’s working life, the office of a racing yard not the most obvious place you might find a jockey and horseman, but certainly the exact place every trainer now wishes they had honed their skills. Winners usually come as a result of hungry ambition, but Murphy gives the impression that fortune has merely been kind to him. His results suggest otherwise! “It was never my intention to start training, but one thing led to another,” he explains. “Brave Inca was my first major winner, he’s 14 now and living an honourable retirement here in the yard. He’s the stable pet. It was said to me that the good ones get old quick and that’s true.” For some trainers, having a good one early on in their career leaves them searching for the next good one for the remainder of it, but
colm murphy
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You have your own idea of the perfect racehorse, but unfortunately you can’t see under the bonnet or see if he has the right constitution
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good horses seem to be attracted to Murphy like a magnet. “I started out with a few point-to-point winners and people kept sending me more horses and I landed running,” he explains. “In the first few years it was all cattle, and then a few horses, and this turned from around three horses to 10-15, then 30-40. “I started at the right time, in 2000, as the economy started to boom and there were a lot of syndicates. I was very lucky to have a few nice horses, you just can’t buy publicity like it. “Anvil Lord was the horse who really got the ball rolling and then Feathard Lady. She was bought very cheaply, for €2,000, for a syndicate of 10 at €200 a piece. They were certainly living the dream and had a lot of fun with her.” Like many trainers during the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, Murphy was reliant on syndicates, but unsurprisingly has had no trouble in keeping owners since their departure. “Probably 80-90 per cent of the horses were owned by syndicates before the recession, now it’s 10-15 per cent. Many of the original syndicates are still with us. A lot have dropped out, it’s an expensive hobby and syndicates made it affordable for a wider audience,” he says. As in any business, much of Murphy’s current success is due to past successes, which have stood him in good stead through the more difficult times of recession. “At the sales, the top end of the market is as hard as ever, at the lower end the bottom has really fallen out. The cheaper horses were really inflated. I’m very lucky to be able to purchase in the top end and I’m fortunate to be able to buy nice horses,” he reflects. “You need the numbers to get the good ones and we’re not turning over the same
At home: Murphy’s yard has grown from a housing a few point-to-pointers to around 40 top-class NH horses
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colm murphy
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It’s a matter of keeping them in their comfort zone, finding that happy medium and not pushing them too hard
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number of horses now. “You have your own idea of the perfect racehorse, but unfortunately you can’t see under the bonnet or see if he has the right constitution! I have my own idea of the perfect model, athletic and racy. I have to turn a blind eye to a lot of little defects.” There are few defects on show in the current stable stars, who include Big Zeb, Voler La Vedette, Quito De La Roque and Zaarito. As with Brave Inca, Murphy has a knack with keeping them going and keeping their minds focused on racing, but is typically modest. “The ones that last are unique mentally,” he says. “To keep going as long as they do is testament to the horse itself. They are creatures of habit, it’s a matter of keeping them in their comfort zone, finding that happy medium and not pushing them too hard.” The comfort zone is all around them in the tranquil yard. “We’re lucky we have so much space here and the quiet suits the horses, it keeps them happy,” Murphy says. “A lot of the horses stay here for the summer. The Martinstown and Giggingstown horses go home for the summer. Brave Inca stayed here, he’s been here all his life, really. “The horses come back in at the end of July, and in August we start them back on the walker and slow canters. I try not to let them get too fat during the summer, as it’s hard on their legs. Some do better when they’re kept in. “We have a lot of paddocks for turn out and I try and let everything out for a couple of hours once they’ve been ridden out. Usually when they’re near to working fully I like to get them away for a change of scenery, they go away for racecourse gallop. I don’t prepare a horse any different for a big race than any other, it’s just another race. “The new horses arrive here during the summer and we break them here, the oldfashioned way,” he continues. “They’re nearly half-broken already when they arrive from the sales, they’re used to being handled. You nearly know by where they’re coming from how they’ll stick it, I always find the ones who are well fed thrive best. “It’s all new to them, they’re just like baby infants starting school. I enjoy teaching them. Some are natural and have a really good technique. I teach them to jump slow. The key is plenty of practice and loads of confidence. The better they get the more confident they become.”
If big race wins provide the horses with greater confidence, how does their trainer find the big occasion? “My high day? Cheltenham. The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle gave me the most satisfaction, I probably had a point to prove and it was more stressful,” he smiles, before adding: “But any big race is stressful. Before Brave Inca ran at Cheltenham the first time, was the only night I never slept. I get more anxious on a big day, you’re showing your credentials and you can’t buy advertising like that. Brave Inca catapulted us to another level.” Now that he’s at that other level, what does the future hold for Murphy? “I’m positive for the industry’s future;
One of the current stable stars: Quito De La Roque
anyone who didn’t get too carried away and kept their feet nearer to the ground, will be alright to paddle away. “The industry was in cloud cuckoo land and now we have to work for a living,” he points out realistically. “It’s a lifestyle and a family business. Like any family we have good days and bad days and I’m so lucky to have my family around. My father is around the yard and is very active in the daily running. Our staff is very good, it’s a lot easier now to get good staff and good riders. “My advice to anyone looking to become a trainer – don’t! I was fortunate to get some nice horses. Would I put anyone off – no, I wouldn’t, as long as you’re able to handle the bad days. The lows are very low and the highs are very high. “Prize-money in Ireland has decreased an awful lot. In comparison to the UK it’s still relatively good, but attendances have dropped and we’re not generating the revenue we once were. The big days are bigger, but the industry days are a lot smaller now. “Free admission at racecourses I don’t think would increase overall attendance by more than ten new people and that’s not the answer. Any avid racegoers are passionate, it’s bred in and they have a real knowledge of the sport. Everyone has an appreciation of the superstars and legends, a great appreciation, and we should build on that.” Murphy is in a rare position to have experienced racing as both jockey and trainer, which probably makes him a more sympathetic employer. “Having been a jockey myself I think it makes me easier to ride for,” he agrees. “I don’t really give instructions to a jockey, Aidan never gave me instructions. If you need to give a jockey a lot of instructions then maybe you shouldn’t be putting that jockey up!” He has no problems with current racing regulations and would make no great changes if he were in a position to do so. Like his horses, he is content. “I’ve no problem with the whip laws,” he says, as a case in point. “I’m not in disagreement with the rules, but I do disagree with it being introduced for people who are so ignorant about it. They have to see the bigger picture that everyone forgets. I guarantee that anyone in racing is not in it for the money, they’re in it for love of the horse.” That is a fitting sentiment on which to end, for love of the horse is never more evident than during a pleasant afternoon spent in Colm Murphy’s company.
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christophe masle
Sprinting to NH success Sally Grassick meets Christophe Masle, the young breeder of the exciting AQPS-bred novice chaser, the Arkle favourite Sprinter Sacre
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ational Hunt racing’s most beloved champions are well known for having often been born into much more humble surroundings than their Flat counterparts. Kauto Star is just such an example of a
horse, who first saw the light of day far from the glamour and prestige of the top Flat breeding operations. The exciting novice chaser Sprinter Sacre is not yet at the dazzling heights of his fellow French-bred, but he will nonetheless attempt to follow in the Star’s footsteps when he heads
Christophe Masle with Altesse Sacre on the farm near Cergy-Le-Tour, in the Nievre department of France
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christophe masle
Sprinter Sacre with Barry Geraghty winning the Grade 2 Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. The son of Network is now favourite for the Arkle Chase after subsequently putting in a brilliant performance at Newbury in the Game Spirit Novices’ Chase
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christophe masle
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With the French National Stud just 200m away it means that I have a good choice of stallions and it helps for contacts when selling on produce as buyers are constantly coming to the area to see other horses in the region
However, when presented with the opportunity to acquire a Selle Francais mare Fatima III from elderly neighbour Bernard Cypres in 2004, Masle thought it might prove to be an interesting diversity from his regular livestock. “I bought Fatima III carrying a foal by Arnaquer, who I sold to England later that year after he took third place at the Decize show. He went into training with David Pipe, but he was no world beater.” That foal, the first that Fatima III produced for Masle, was the Selle Francais gelding Regain Du Charbonneau who won his
One of Masle’s head of Charolais cattle: the young farmer started out in business with just one calf
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in search of success at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. The drama, excitement and atmosphere of Prestbury Park in March is a far cry from the small farm found on the outskirts of CergyLe-Tour, in the Nievre, where Sprinter Sacre was born, only the second horse ever bred by young farmer Christophe Masle. Although his farm is situated deep in AQPS territory and just a stone’s throw from the famous AQPS town of Decize, first generation farmer Masle was more accustomed to breeding Charolais cattle and sheep than four-legged animals of the equine kind. “My father worked in a factory and no one in my family was ever involved in farming before,” explains Masle. “But farming was something I was always interested in as a child and after studying at agricultural college I started out on my own with just a single calf. “I have been on this farm since 2000 and have another farm close by with around 80 cows and 90 sheep on a total of 130 hectares. I have never liked being shut up indoors or having to take orders from other people; as a result farming is the perfect career for me! In this region, most people are mainly cattle breeders and breed horses as a sideline, but horses were never something that interested me in a particular way.”
bumper at Market Rasen. His best result after that was third in a handicap hurdle at Uttoxeter. Starting off from scratch in any new endeavour is never easy and it is always better to have the advice of those with more experience rather than leaving things to chance. “Michelle Juhen-Cypres, the owner of Radium and Thalium, has been very influential and helpful to me over the past few years. You need knowledge to be successful in any job and my neighbours have given me a lot of advice when I have needed it,” reports a thankful Masle. “Many people in the area have been very successful with their homebreds. I think that the grass and land here are perfect as locally bred horses have proved themselves abroad time and time again. I am also lucky to be based where I am with the French National Stud just 200m away as it means that I have a good choice of stallions and it helps for contacts when selling on produce as buyers are constantly coming to the area to see other horses in the region.” In 2005, Masle made the decision to send Fatima III to Dark Moondancer, but fate intervened before that plan could come good. “When the mare came into season there was a problem with Dark Moondancer and he wasn’t available for covering. I was offered the opportunity to use Network and I thought to myself that he wasn’t half-bad as a lastminute replacement!” The foal produced by this last-minute mating was Sprinter Sacre, who went on to win the Decize Show as a foal before being purchased by owner Philippe Peltier and eventually making his way to Nicky Henderson’s Lambourn yard and Caroline Mould’s ownership.
christophe masle
This is what a future top-class racehorse looks like as a foal: Sprinter Sacre with Masle after winning his foal class at the Decize show in 2006
future. But I will stay small and focus on the quality rather than quantity – I won’t lose my head as don’t have the time to take on any more mares than that. “Fatima III is a 19-year-old now and she is getting on a bit so I have kept her five-yearold daughter Toscane Sacree (Dear Doctor) in order to keep the bloodline going. “I have the two-year-old Altesse Sacree (Daramsar) here at the moment, but I am in the process of selling her to a French breeder and I recently sold her yearling Baccara Sacree (Fragrant Mix) to a client in Ireland. Fatima III is not in foal this year but as soon as she is ready she will be covered again by
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I’m still young, I have bred a good horse and I’m doing a job that I love, who could ask for more than that?
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“Even as a foal Sprinter Sacre was impressive, he was always a very strong and good-looking horse, who had a proud presence about him,” remembers Masle. “I think that is why he stood out from the other foals at the Decize Show. He was a very kind horse and laid back just like all of the other foals out of Fatima III, but even when he was still quite young you could already tell that he was going to be powerful and well built. “I haven’t seen him in the flesh since he left for England, but I watch all of his races on the internet and follow his career very closely. I always thought that he was built to be a chaser rather than a hurdler.” Sprinter Sacre was successful in his two bumper starts, which he followed up with a second place first time out over hurdles. After two subsequent victories in novice hurdles, he headed to Cheltenham where he finished third in the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle won by Al Ferof. He has stepped up again over fences and, after his Kempton Grade 2 win at Christmas, put in a thrilling performance to win the Game Spirit Novices Chase (G1) at Newbury. That run made him favourite for the Arkle. “I was immensely proud when I watched him at the Cheltenham Festival last year,” says Masle. “Some people wait their whole lives to breed a good horse and I have been lucky enough to produce one like him on my second attempt. “I had tears in my eyes when he was third at Cheltenham – my father foaled Sprinter for me on the other farm and he has since passed away so in a way it feels as though he is running in my father’s memory.” So now that Christophe has tasted success on only his second attempt at breeding has it changed him as a person? “I think it is important not to get too carried away by success,” he smiles. “I am quite laidback as a person in general and I will stay true to myself. I am immensely proud of my horses and feel blessed to have had as good a horse as ‘Sprinter’, but I will keep my feet on the ground and enjoy the experience while it lasts. I’m still young, I have bred a good horse and I’m doing a job that I love, who could ask for more than that?” And have his plans and aspirations for the future of his breeding operation been affected as a result of this success? “I have acquired one more mare recently, Jardelle, who is a half-sister to Gloria IV, and I hope to purchase another mare in the near
Network.” Obvious choice really! Despite the busy spring season on the farm, Sprinter’s young breeder is planning a trip away from the farm to Cheltenham in order to see his home-bred compete in the flesh for the first time. “If Sprinter does run at The Festival this year, I will do everything in my power to be there to see him. It will take a lot of effort as March is the busiest time for farming, but it will be worth it. “A few locals are also planning on making the trip so it would be an amazing opportunity. I might not have another horse capable of running at the Festival for the next 10 or 15 years, if ever, so I don’t want to let this opportunity pass me by. “It would be a very emotional experience and I know my father will be looking down on us that day. “I just hope that Sprinter stays healthy and safe so I can keep enjoying watching him race for a few more years to come.” Despite Masle being a relative newcomer to the breeding game, he is wise enough to realise that if you are involved with horses, especially you are lucky enough to own or have bred a good one, those talented horses and the days out with them are precious.
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the caiani family
The Italian-bred champion Dr. Carlo Zuccoli discusses Hurricane Fly’s family background 48
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the caiani family
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he Caiani family was sat in the first row at Goffs during the 1983 November Sale – the two brothers: Paolo, a former architect and the boss at Holyhill Farm, Giovanni, an entrepreneur, who runs the family’s building business in Monza, near Milan, their sister Mariella, Paolo’s wife Bruna, as well as their mother Laura. At the time the weanling market was very healthy, the bidding was conducted in punts and the auctioneer, Philip Myerscough, was calling for some big prices. A chestnut colt by King’s Lake and out of Yankee Lady (Lord Gayle) sold by the Caiani family’s Holyhill Stud was knocked down to the BBA for Ir255,000gns. He was the first foal by King’s Lake (Nijinsky) ever sold at a public auction that year. But perhaps more significantly Yankee Lady became the dam of Scandisk (Kenmare), in turn the dam of the current Champion Hurdler, Hurricane Fly (Montjeu). Unfortunately that King’s Lake foal was eventually returned to Holyhill Stud, but on the day the Caiani family celebrated their big sale in their general low key way: both brothers are a little shy and steer away from flamboyant shows of exuberance. That day’s sale was probably (initially anyway) more noted for another purchase by the BBA: the agency bought the only foal by Shergar (ex Galletto by Nijinsky) sold at public auction for IR325,000gns. The following year the late Tote CherryDownes bought the horse as a yearling for the record price of IR3.1 million guineas on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Called Authaal, the colt went into training with David O’Brien at Ballydoyle and won the Irish St. Leger (G1) before he travelled to Australia where he won two more Group 1s.
del Parco, 15 minutes away from Como where I live. The farm is part of the former Razza del Soldo’s premiere land, which the Caianis acquired from Credit Suisse in the early 1980s after a Swiss family, who had taken over operations from the Crespis, owners of the major daily Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, went bankrupt. I kept a few yearlings at the farm on behalf of a small, but successful Italian breeder so visited the farm quite often. Paolo, who is not involved anymore in the breeding operation, moved back to Italy in 2008. During his time in Ireland he bred a lot of successful racehorses – they would be born at Holyhill Stud would spend up to six months at the farm before being sent for “fine tuning” in Italy where they would
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obody outside of Italy really knew of the Caianis, but Paolo had been a good show jumper and was keen to breed showjumpers when he bought Holyhill in the late 1970s. I got to know the Caianis well then as I was then a frequent visitor to Ireland – I was looking after a stud farm in Naas and was a frequent traveller to Tipperary to see and use the stallions at the various farms in the Coolmore ownership. But I had also known the Caiani family in Italy as the family’s stud farm is in Anzano
Hurricane Fly: left, winning the Champion Hurdle and, above, returning in glory
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the caiani family be sold as yearlings at the ANAC sales (now SGA) where Giovanni was one of the directors. Perhaps the best horse bred by the family has been Pressing (Soviet Star), a multiple Group 1 winner in Italy and Germany, as well as a Group 2 winner in Britain and in Turkey, for owners Scuderia Zaro and Mr. Gary Tanaka. He was trained by the late Michael Jarvis, and has been the flag bearer for the Caianis. Away from the Flat racing arena, the family’s biggest star though has to be Hurricane Fly, last year’s Champion Hurdler, the top European hurdler and the winner of 10 Grade 1s. After a delayed start to his 2011-12 campaign, Hurricane Fly is now favourite for this year’s Champion Hurdle after his victory in January’s Irish Champion Hurdle in a run that his trainer Willie Mullins described as the horse’s “best performance yet”. Born at the Irish National Stud, Hurricane Fly’s roots traces back to that long line of Agricola Del Parco homebreds and that day at Goffs in 1983.
The 1995 foal out of Yankee Lady, Scandisk, was retained by the Caianis and was trained in Ireland by John Oxx, who sent her to win her two-year-old maiden first time out at San Siro. The filly then spent her time in both Italy and Ireland, with a best-placed finish when fourth from four races in the Listed Premio Baggio. Retired to the Irish National Stud’s paddocks, Scandisk initially visited the farm’s stallions Desert Prince and Indian Danehill, matings that resulted in one multiple winner Thunderwing. She ventured further afield to Coolmore and Montjeu in 2003. The resulting progeny was Hurricane Fly , who was consigned as a yearling at Goffs by the Irish National and was bought by R.Tellman / J.L. Pellatan for €65,000. After producing Hurricane Fly, Scandisk was covered by King’s Best and then Exceed And Excel and in 2006 she produced the filly Sosua. She was sold in Italy as a yearling for €56,000 and trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupré for the Scuderia Zaro.
Winged Love 1992 In The Wings – J’ai Deux Amours (Top Ville)
Winner of Irish Derby and a prolific sire of Group race performers
Unfortunately, she failed to fulfill herpromise and the Caianis bought her back as a broodmare prospect. Scandisk re-visited Exceed And Excel in 2009 and was sold in foal to the Darley stallion at the Goffs November Sale. She was bought for €95,000 by John Walsh Bloodstock. By then, after ten runs on the Flat, outings which including a Listed victory, Hurricane Fly was in training with Mullins and already the winner of three Grade 1 novice hurdles. Currently, six broodmares are boarding at Anzano del Parco, and they are in foal mainly to British and Italian stallions, the mares regularly commuting between the two countries. The latest hope for the farm is Sciolina, a filly by Oratorio and from the family of Senor Pete (Green Dancer), a dual Grade 1 winner in the US. She was a €11,000 purchase at the SGA Sale as a yearling, is in training with Cristiana Signorelli in Pisa and won a good maiden at Milan last year, looking a very promising type.
A leading NH sire and a multiple Group sire Over 400 mares covered 2008-2010
N.H. winners include: Twist Magic: five-time G1 winner Bostons Angel: three-time G1 winner Cherub: G1-winning hurdler Magnaminity: dual G2 winner and G1 placed Premier Victory: dual G3 winner Atamane: G2 hurdle winner and G1-placed
Flat winners include: Macleya: G2 and G3 winner and G1-placed Aolus: dual G2 winner Also sire of 13 P-t-P winners in 2010 Stores have made: £50,000, €42,000, £40,000
Fee for 2012: On application
Tullyraine House Stud 20 Drumneath Road, Banbridge, Co. Down, BT32 3SS, N. Ireland Contact: Hugh Suffern MVB, MRCVS Tel: 028 406 24566 or Stephanie Monaghan Tel: 07958 052129 hugh.suffern@btinternet.com or tullyraine@btconnect.com
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nh stallions
Some change at the top table S
O FAR It’s been a season of change at the top of the NH stallions’ list. After four or five years dominated by Presenting, through the likes of leading performers the Gold Cup winners Denman and War Of Attrition, the Rathbarry Stud sire currently ranks only fifth on the table with earnings just over £700,000, a strike-rate of 20 per cent, one of the lowest of the leading sires, and average earnings of £2,465, again one of the lower figures at the top of the chart. The retirement of the admirable Denman has hit the sire’s earning capacity quite hard – Presenting’s highest earners so far this season has been the seven-year-old point-topoint graduate and 2011 Cheltenham Festival winner First Lieutenant, who finished second in the Grade 1 Fort Leney Novice Chase at Christmas, and On His Own, winner of the Theyestes Chase at Gowran in January. The Rathbarry stallion has some large and possibly his better crops to come – War Of Attrition won his Gold Cup in 2006, and Denman followed up in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase a year later, victories which will have been reflected in his mare books. The resulting foals are now four and fiveyear-olds and are ready to begin to shine so don’t be surprised to see Presenting return to the top spot over the next few years and regain his dominance. Wth plenty of top-class and valuable 3m chases to run this season, that could still happen this year. The results year on year for current table second King’s Theatre have been improving
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Presenting has been deposed – for at least for the time being, writes Sally Duckett
and having finished third last season and fifth the year before, it is only fitting that the deceased sire should be enjoying such a deserved good year and is at present ducking and diving at the top with Beneficial. It is such a shame, though, that if the former Ballylinch Stud stallion wins his first sires’ NH championship it will be posthumously. One who has also steadily climbing the
Presenting: the Rathbarry Stud’s stallion has lost his place at the top of the NH sires’ list
nh stallions Leading NH sires Britain and Ireland 2011-12 (to February 21, 2012) Sire
Rnrs
BENEFICIAL (GB) KING’S THEATRE (IRE) FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) OSCAR (IRE) PRESENTING (GB) ANSHAN ACCORDION OLD VIC MILAN (GB) KAYF TARA (GB) BOB BACK (USA) DEFINITE ARTICLE (GB) ALDERBROOK (GB) SADDLERS’ HALL (IRE) SADLER’S WELLS (USA) MONTJEU (IRE) CADOUDAL (FR) DR MASSINI (IRE) GALILEO (IRE) PISTOLET BLEU (IRE) BARATHEA (IRE) ALFLORA (IRE) KARINGA BAY OVERBURY (IRE) SAINT DES SAINTS (FR)
277 180 247 302 294 125 101 197 208 128 111 132 103 106 74 81 18 98 61 27 34 141 125 83 10
Wnrs 88 66 69 61 59 34 26 61 58 45 29 34 26 24 26 25 4 26 19 6 9 31 33 25 5
Races Won 121 93 103 84 78 51 37 88 84 64 43 47 33 40 37 32 8 33 31 9 13 39 48 36 9
courtesy of Weatherbys Places
Money Won (£)
293 217 262 220 263 129 105 182 202 156 117 135 108 113 98 78 21 99 63 36 52 125 113 93 10
976,612 967,170 855,702 800,900 724,770 676,203 607,317 601,917 597,877 488,630 464,105 420,646 362,060 356,176 340,679 324,929 313,062 300,693 298,518 283,616 276,852 272,305 256,714 256,690 250,934
Wnrs to Rnrs (%) 31.76 36.66 27.93 20.19 20.06 27.20 25.74 30.96 27.88 35.15 26.12 25.75 25.24 22.64 35.13 30.86 22.22 26.53 31.14 22.22 26.47 21.98 26.4 30.12 50.00
Leading sires Britain and Ireland 2011-12 of chasers 6yo+: (to February 21, 2012) Sire
Rnrs
Wnrs
ANSHAN FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) ACCORDION BENEFICIAL (GB) PRESENTING (GB) KING’S THEATRE (IRE) OSCAR (IRE) KAYF TARA (GB) PISTOLET BLEU (IRE) SADDLERS’ HALL (IRE) BOB BACK (USA) SAINT DES SAINTS (FR) VILLAGE STAR (FR) CADOUDAL (FR) OLD VIC WINGED LOVE (IRE)
69 73 50 109 113 53 90 50 25 71 50 6 1 15 61 28
24 23 13 32 26 15 18 21 5 19 15 4 1 2 16 13
Races Won 30 36 16 41 37 20 25 27 8 28 19 7 2 3 18 20
Places 88 92 42 120 110 68 56 61 31 74 59 5 0 13 43 38
Av. Earnings 3,526 5,373 3,464 2,652 2,465 5,410 6,013 3,055 2,874 3,817 4,181 3,187 3,515 3,360 4,604 4,011 17,392 3,068 4,894 10,504 8,143 1,931 2,054 3,093 25,093
courtesy of Weatherbys
Money Won (£) 510,139 453,087 426,055 384,027 379,175 372,809 344,937 319,936 278,467 275,709 235,207 222,489 216,064 193,343 172,938 169,137
Wnrs to Rnrs (%) 34.78 31.50 26.00 29.35 23.00 28.30 20.00 42.00 20.00 26.76 30.00 66.66 100 13.33 26.22 46.42
Av. Earnings 7,393 6,207 8,521 3,523 3,356 7,034 3,833 6,399 11,139 3,883 4,704 37,081 216,064 12,889 2,835 6,041
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nh stallions list over the last few years and is challenging for those leading honours alongside the Ballylinch sire is Beneficial. He has been a consistent sire for the last few seasons: the 2006-07 season saw him pull in 23 winners before he hit a fine run of form which has seen him bag between 40 and 59 winners every season from 2007 to the end of last year. But it is this season that has really seen the Knockhouse Stud sire really come of age and he is already enjoying his best season ever with over 90 winners and nearly a £1 million in earnings. His success is perhaps not such a surprise – he was the leading sire of Irish point-topointers through the 2010-11 season with 47 winners and many of those will presumably have been transferred to running under Rules. Beneficial has achieved this success without a real superstar this season (until Benefficent’s won a Grade 1 novice hurdle) and his progeny average earnings are £3,526 compared with King’s Theatre’s £5,373. Realt Dubh, his leading earner in 2011, has not run since winning the Fairyhouse Powers Gold Cup Chase (G1) and finishing second in the Ryanair Novice Chase (G1) at Punchestown.
What Beneficial can claim to have had is a lot of runners, over 270. And while that is not the highest number in this table (Oscar and Presenting have been the busiest), those figures put him in the bracket of NH super sire, and with a strike-rate over 30 per cent, he is getting results also. It is tempting to think that the son of Top Ville is mainly a sire of hurdlers seeing as he is top of the category of six-year-old and older timber toppers, however he gets his fair share of chasers too and he is an obvious choice for breeders looking to get an all-round type of NH horse. He has a particularly good record with mares by Phardante and, not surprisingly, the former Knockhouse Studbased champion sire Strong Gale. Unfortunately, Beneficial is 22 so his years of active service are beginning to look limited. At the top of the “young hurdlers” list is a sight to please Coolmore eyes. Milan, the son of Sadler’s Wells in which the farm has seemingly pinned much of its NH hopes, is beginning to produce much that was expected of him. The stallion has enjoyed the hype right from the beginning of his career, and some might suggest that he has taken his time to get into the winning grove. However, he has
had a high respectable 52 winners from 195 runners at 26 per cent strike-rate this season. The 18 young hurdling winners he has had though this term, along with the 31 Irish pointing winners last year (third on that list behind Beneficial, Oscar and Flemensfirth) strikes a positive note for the future. It does need checking out how well they are training on, though the talented Real Milan is one whose trainer Donald McCain is planning out a novice chasing career next season. For such a young sire, who has only had runners since 2008 (four crops), he is performing highly creditably and those high expectations of him may be fulfilled, albeit that they were perhaps a little premature. As a St Leger winner by Sadler’s Wells and out of a Darshaan mare, it has to be questioned why everyone thought that he was going to get hugely early and precocious stock? Another young stallion enjoying a superb year is Sulamani. He has had something of an unsettled early life as a stallion and has moved home three times – after starting out as a Flat sire at Dalham Hall, he was moved to Haras Du Logis before settling at Yorton Farm for a first covering year in 2011. His best Flat runner was the St Leger winner Mastery, and until 2009 he’d had
Leading sires Britain and Ireland 2011-12 of hurdlers 6yo+ (to February 21, 2012) Sire
Rnrs
BENEFICIAL (GB) KING’S THEATRE (IRE) OSCAR (IRE) BARATHEA (IRE) NORWICH DEFINITE ARTICLE (GB) OLD VIC GALILEO (IRE) PRESENTING (GB) FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) BOB BACK (USA) ANSHAN SADLER’S WELLS (USA) KAYF TARA (GB) WITNESS BOX (USA) MONTJEU (IRE) ACCORDION ENRIQUE (GB) CADOUDAL (FR) ALFLORA (IRE)
131 69 110 12 23 47 72 20 89 91 53 48 36 63 39 26 34 2 7 61
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Wnrs 34 19 19 3 4 7 21 5 11 17 10 9 12 16 8 7 4 1 1 10
Races Won 41 25 26 6 5 9 30 7 13 21 13 14 14 22 12 8 6 2 3 14
Places 107 68 66 8 11 35 41 17 50 65 32 31 37 67 39 17 27 2 6 27
courtesy of Weatherbys
Money Won (£) 300,823 270,517 244,166 178,554 171,402 166,220 159,469 155,069 146,911 146,319 140,841 130,755 115,995 106,675 102,813 99,231 93,550 93,498 93,467 91,217
Wnrs to Rnrs (%) 25.95 27.53 17.27 25.00 17.39 14.89 29.16 25.00 12.35 18.68 18.86 18.75 33.33 25.39 20.51 26.92 11.76 50.00 14.28 16.39
Av. Earnings 2,296 3,921 2,220 14,879 7,452 3,537 2,215 7,753 1,651 1,608 2,657 2,724 3,222 1,693 2,636 3,817 2,751 46,749 13,352 1,495
Sulamani: has had a Group 1 and Grade 1 winner
only three winners over fences. But in 2010 the sire, as they say, “found one” with the emergence of the Flat-bred Cash And Go. The Edward O’Grady-trained gelding has now run six times, won four races and last time out picked up a Grade 1 victory in the Future Champions Hurdle (see January’s mare of the month). Getting Sulamani on the Yorton Farm books was a timely and well-advised move
Leading Timeform performers
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by David and Teresa Futter, in association with the shrewd Rathbarry Farm team, and while more needs to come from him, the stallion has proved that he can come up with the products having got a St Leger and a hurdling Grade 1 winner already. Now he will be covering dedicated NH-bred mares, and is still a highly affordable £2,500, it will be interesting to see how he develops with the change in numbers and type of book.
AL FEROF Dom Alco GRANDS CRUS Dom Alco SILVINIACO CONTI Dom Alco SPRINTER SACRE Network BOG WARRIOR Strategic Choice CUE CARD King's Theatre BOBS WORTH Bob Back FLEMENSTAR Flemensfirth MENORAH King's Theatre FOR NON STOP Alderbrook JOIN TOGETHER Old Vic PEDDLERS CROSS Oscar LAST INSTALMENT Anshan FIRST LIEUTENANT Presenting SONOFVIC Old Vic WALKON Take Risks ZAYNAR Daylami SOLIX Al Namix SIR DES CHAMPS Robin Des Champs CHAMPION COURT Court Cave
NOVICE HURDLERS 156p FINGAL BAY King's Theatre 154p BOSTON BOB Bob Back 153p SIMONSIG Fair Mix 148 MOUNT BENBULBEN Beneficial 147p IPSOS DU BERLAIS Poliglote 146p FOLSOM BLUE Old Vic 146 REBEL FITZ Agent Bleu 146 SOUS LES CIEUX Robin Des Champs 145p TETLAMI Daylami 145 BENEFFICIENT Beneficial 144p MONKSLAND Beneficial 144p STEPS TO FREEDOM Statute Of Liberty 143 PROSPECT WELLS Sadler's Wells 142p TAVERN TIMES Presenting 142 MIDNIGHT GAME Montjeu 142 MOLOTOF Smadoun 141p ROCKY CREEK Dr Massini 141 DYLAN ROSS Shantou 140p CINDERS AND ASHES Beat Hollow 140p GULLINBURSTI Galileo
nh stallions Leading sires Britain and Ireland 2011-12 of hurdlers 3yo-5yo: (to February 21, 2012) Sire MILAN (GB) KING’S THEATRE (IRE) BENEFICIAL (GB) OLD VIC BEAT HOLLOW (GB) OSCAR (IRE) DAYLAMI (IRE) PRESENTING (GB) FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) AZAMOUR (IRE) SHANTOU (USA) MARTALINE (GB) AL NAMIX (FR) MONTJEU (IRE) SADLER’S WELLS (USA) DANEHILL DANCER (IRE) SULAMANI (IRE) GALILEO (IRE) ROBIN DES CHAMPS (FR) DUBAWI (IRE)
Rnrs 89 56 60 58 19 78 13 78 77 18 22 10 3 42 25 27 9 36 8 9
Wnrs 18 24 17 18 9 19 6 13 18 7 8 7 3 11 8 7 4 11 3 7
courtesy of Weatherbys
Races Won
Places
Money Won (£)
29 34 24 28 18 20 9 17 25 8 12 10 4 13 13 10 8 14 5 8
90 46 33 55 29 57 9 59 65 18 16 10 1 36 32 23 9 37 5 13
304,667 235,107 202,145 187,664 169,914 149,833 137,677 134,765 131,946 129,747 117,267 115,602 115,034 109,618 99,999 99,675 97,511 96,286 93,417 87,266
Wnrs to Rnrs (%) 20.22 42.85 28.33 31.03 47.36 24.35 46.15 16.66 23.37 38.88 36.36 70.00 100 26.19 32.00 25.92 44.44 30.55 37.50 77.77
Leading sires Britain and Ireland 2011-12 of chasers 3yo-5yo: (to February 21, 2012) Sire CAPE CROSS (IRE) ALDERBROOK (GB) WITH THE FLOW (USA) ROBIN DES CHAMPS (FR) TURGEON (USA) FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) NETWORK (GER) OLD VIC KING’S THEATRE (IRE) DOM ALCO (FR) BENEFICIAL (GB) CAPTAIN RIO (GB) KARINGA BAY DOYEN (IRE) CADOUDAL (FR) AL NAMIX (FR) DEFINITE ARTICLE (GB) MILAN (GB) CALIFET (FR) KUTUB (IRE)
Rnrs
Wnrs
1 5 1 5 4 5 4 6 9 1 11 3 3 2 1 1 4 7 3 1
1 4 1 1 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1
Races Won 2 6 1 3 3 5 3 4 3 1 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2
Av. Earnings 3,423 4,198 3,369 3,236 8,943 1,921 10,590 1,728 1,714 7,208 5,330 11,560 38,345 2,610 4,000 3,692 10,835 2,675 11,677 9,696
courtesy of Weatherbys
Places
Money Won (£)
3 5 2 4 8 3 5 9 7 3 9 8 4 4 2 1 2 10 4 3
108,853 90,047 54,724 52,722 45,901 41,226 38,917 38,573 32,401 31,222 30,908 28,323 27,265 27,139 26,252 23,931 22,862 22,191 18,900 18,624
Wnrs to Rnrs (%) 100 80.00 100 20.00 50.00 40.00 25.00 50.00 22.22 100 18.18 66.66 33.33 50.00 100 100 50.00 14.28 66.66 100
Av. Earnings 108,853 18,009 54,724 10,544 11,475 8,245 9,729 6,429 3,600 31,222 2,810 9,441 9,088 13,569 26,252 23,931 5,716 3,170 6,300 18,624
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nh stallions
“
Ballylinch Stud moved quickly to secure Beat Hollow’s services for itself – the progeny by the former Juddmonte sire have been making a notable mark over hurdles
“
Leading Timeform performers (to February 19, 2012) CHASERS 182 181 172 171 171 171 170+ 168 168 168 166 166 166 166 166 165 165 164 164 164
LONG RUN Cadoudal KAUTO STAR Village Star SIZING EUROPE Pistolet Bleu MASTER MINDED Nikos RIVERSIDE THEATRE King’s Theatre WEIRD AL Accordion IMPERIAL COMMANDER Flemensfirth MEDERMIT Medaaly SOMERSBY Second Empire POQUELIN Lahint BURTON PORT Bob Back CAPTAIN CHRIS King’s Theatre FINIAN’S RAINBOW Tiraaz SYNCHRONISED Sadler’s Wells WHAT A FRIEND Alflora BIG ZEB Oscar TATANIANO Sassanian ALBERTAS RUN Accordion PANDORAMA Flemensfirth DIAMOND HARRY Sir Harry Lewis
HURDLERS 176+ BIG BUCK’S Cadoudal 174 HURRICANE FLY Montjeu 172 PEDDLERS CROSS Oscar 171 GRANDS CRUS Dom Alco 171 OSCAR WHISKY Oscar 167 BINOCULAR Enrique 165 GRANDOUET Al Namix 165 ROCK ON RUBY Oscar 164 OSCARS WELL Oscar 164 OVERTURN Barathea 164 SOLWHIT Solon 163 CELESTIAL HALO Galileo 163 THOUSAND STARS Grey Risk 162 SILVINIACO CONTI Dom Alco 160 AL FEROF Dom Alco 160 DYNASTE Martaline 159p SPIRIT SON Poliglote 159 BRAMPOUR Daylami 159 MENORAH King’s Theatre
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Beat Hollow: has taken up a new job at Ballylinch Stud and looks an exciting recruit to the NH ranks
Another stallion who has been moving around is Daylami. The son of Doyoun, having jetted off to South Africa for two years from Gilltown, was repatriated to Ireland and Coolagown Stud for the 2010 season after getting some significant winners over hurdles with the 2009 Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar, now a Grade 2 novice chase winner, the most prominent. Daylami is still doing well and is fourth on the list of leading young hurdling sires with a high average earnings per runner figure, reflecting the quality of his runners, but he is likely to suffer some dark years as a result of the time he spent in South Africa. The reserves of Aga Khan-bred middle-distance Flat performers to convert to go jumping will also be running dry. However, he will have received some good books of mares on the back of his decent hurdling performers, so the quality has every chance of being maintained. Ballylinch Stud moved quickly to secure Beat Hollow’s services as a dual-purpose sire – the progeny by the former Juddmonte sire have been making a notable mark over hurdles last spring and this season. He has been a more than adequate sire
Leading Timeform performers (to February 19, 2012)
JUVENILE HURDLERS 143+ 142 141p 142p 140 140 138+ 137+ 137
URBAIN DE SIVOLA Le Fou PEARL SWAN Gentlewave BALDER SUCCES Goldneyev RANJAAN Dubai Destination GRUMETI Sakhee VENDOR Kendor HINTERLAND Poliglote HISAABAAT Dubawi HOLLOW TREE Beat Hollow
NHF FLAT 122+ 119P 119+ 116 114 114 112+ 112 112
CLONBANAN LAD Rudimentary DON COSSACK Sholokov MOSCOW MANNON Moscow Society HOLD COURT Court Cave MOZOLTOV Kayf Tara SIR JOHNSON Deploy MY TENT OR YOURS Desert Prince POPULATION Noverre SHUTTHEFRONTDOOR Accordion
nh stallions
“
In Britain and Ireland, of the French-based sires, it is the deceased Dom Alco who reigns supreme and he can boast three of this season’s top novice chasers
supreme and, as he can boast three of this season’s top novice chasers, Al Ferof, Grands Crus and Silviniaco Conti, his power will be evident for some years to come. All told he has seven of the leading performers over the various Timeform categories and is the most well-represented, alongside King’s Theatre. Both those two stallions are dead, but the alive Oscar is still getting plenty of good
“
on the Flat, his best being the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Proportional and the Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2) winner Sea Moon, and he looks an exciting proposition for Ballylinch as a replacement for King’s Theatre. Bally Group was the winner of a Grade 3 at Aintree last spring, Cinders And Ashes looked an exciting prospect when winning the Grade 2 Supreme Trial Novice Hurdle at Haydock, Hollow Tree (another Donald McCain-trained runner) marked himself as a Triumph candidate when winning the Grade 1 Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow in December – it could be an exciting Festival for Ballylinch with plenty of runners by King’s Theatre also representing the farm. In Britain and Ireland, of the French-based sires, it is the deceased Dom Alco who reigns
runners. He had a good Festival in 2011 and has every chances of maintaining that form with six of the top current Timeform performers. He reached a fee as high as €8,000 in 2008, but that dropped in 2010 to €5,000, a price he has stood at ever since. Despite that reduction, his progeny profile has been upwardly mobile and his top four runners on Racing Post Ratings are all current
Balko heading the list of young French-based NH sires In France, Balko, a son of Pistolet Bleu, has been making his mark in the young stallion ranks. An 11-year-old, he is a rare example of a top-class jumps colt, the winner of the Grand Steeple-Chase and with earnings equivalent to £260,000, who is making a success of his new career. He retired to Isse-Chateaubriand in 2007, and has his third crop now running over jumps. Without any Flat runners, a few representatives for him appeared in 2010 and he got his first Grade 3-placed horse this autumn when Michto finished a length second in the Prix Congress, a chase over 2m2f. Through 2011 he got himself seven winners and earnings of over €300,000, more than double his closest pursuer from the same generation of stallion retirees. If you’ve got a mare in France, his €2,000 covering fee makes him look a highly affordable option. Great Pretender retired to stud a year earlier than the Chateaubriand-based stallion and in 2011 led home his band of brothers. The battle at the top of this generation was not so clear-cut – although Great Pretender was the only one to break the €400,000 barrier there was just €5,000 between the next two on the list, Protektor and Bourbon Rose. Great Pretender’s own high point came as a Flat runner when second in the Prix Noailles to Ballingarry (more about him later) and when fourth in the Prix Du Jockey-Club to Sulamani (there was more on him earlier), but he transferred to go hurdling as a five-year-old. He had just two runs, both of which he won with the first being a Listed success. He has become a stallion who, over jumps anyway, looks to be capable of producing better than himself and Grand D’Auteuil, a fiveyear-old, won the Grade 1 Prix Renaud Du Vivier (Grande Course De Haies Des 4 Ans) last November adding to a Listed victory gained in September. A son of King’s Theatre, Great Pretender stands at Haras de la
Barbottière for €2,800. The 2005-born pair Ballingarry and Martaline were the youngest two stallions in the 2011 top ten leading NH list in France (Great Pretender, a 2006 born horse was 11th). Ballingarry, trained by Aidan O’Brien is a son of Sadler’s Wells, was bred by Orpendale, is a half-brother to Starborough and was a two-time Grade 1 winner in two continents: he won the Criterium de Saint-Cloud from Castle Gandolfo and the Canadian International at Woodbine in Canada. He began his stud career at Haras du Mezeray, but transferred to Haras du Grand Chesnaie in 2010 and has since produced a number of graded performers. His stand-out statistic so far has been a high conversion of runners to winners – 25 of his progeny last year won a race, the highest of any French-based stallion. The Haras de la Reboursière stallion, the Juddmonte-bred Martaline, winner of the Prix Maurice de Neuill from Westerner, although a successful sire on the Flat, has always been the subject of positive vibes from the NH boys, ever since his first youngsters hit the sales. Quite a few have made their way over the Channel and David Pipe trains one of his best, Dynaste, who was fourth in the Long Walk behind Big Buck’s and has an entry in the World Hurdle, Paul Nicholls has Domataline and Toubab, Ian Williams trains Barbatos, a lasttime-out winner, who was twice second this autumn to Fingal Bay, while Nicky Henderson trains Ozeta, a promising juvenile hurdler. In his home country, Roi De Trev, owned by the English-based Simon Munir, won last November’s running of the Prix Congress from the Balko horse Michto. Munir seems to be particularly taken by progeny of the sire and it seems to have been a good decision – Ucello Conti won a Listed chase for him at Enghien-Soisy in November. Network (Sprinter Sacre) and Al Namix (Solix, Baby Mix and Grandouet) are both getting good runners in Britain and their progeny will be popular at this spring’s Arqana NH sale.
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Oscar Whisky: one of the current top performers reflecting sire Oscar’s above average ability to get above average runners
performers: Peddlers Cross, Big Zeb, Oscar Whisky and Rock On Ruby. The son of Sadler’s Wells looks to be good value at his revised price – able to get plenty of winners and a fair share of good ones too. The Supreme or Neptune Novices Hurdle hopeful Simonsig, who is from Fair Mix’s first crop, is by far the best runner on ratings by the sire so far. Unlike many of his sire’s runners, who have graduated through Flat racing and NH Flat races,ITB Simonsig his earliest Yorton 1-2p enjoyed 2 Correct size:Layout
formative racing years in point-to-points. Out of a Terimon mare (a previous Shade Oak Stud sire who was largely disappointing), Simonsig is one of only five winners from just 31 runners for his Linamix sire so far. But if Fair Mix has produced such a good one once, there is usually no reason why he should not produce as good a one again. Another one slightly under the radar, but on an impressive emerging arc is the Boardsmill Stud stallion Court Cave. Martin Keighley-trained 3 His 8/2/12 12:06 Page 1Champion
Court won the Grade 2 Dipper Novices Chase at Cheltenham in January (from Solix) and has the RSA Chase, Jewson or Ryanir on the agenda, Whodoyouthink, trained by Oliver McKiernan, has finished second in a Grade 3 and a Grade 2 chase this autumn, while Hold Court and Court Minstrel, both trained by Evan Williams, are two of this year’s best bumper runners. The last-named three are all out of Orchestra mares, a Tudor Music stallion, who was also based at Boardsmill. Court Cave stands at an affordable £2,500 and as just an 11-year-old is a very exciting, developing young NH stallion. He is an unraced Juddmonte homebred and is a brother to another new young Irishbased sire, Beat Hollow. The prowess of the pair as the getters of NH stock is not surprising: not only are they by Sadler’s Wells, a more than decent provider of NH stock, but they are also half-brothers to Wemyss Quest, a Rainbow Quest six-time NH winner, as well as being from a quality Juddmonte family full of stallions.
TWO OF THE MOST EXCITING YOUNG NH STALLIONS IN BRITAIN
MALINAS
SULAMANI
by Lomitas – Majoritat
by Hernando – Soul Dream
CLASSIC AND MULTIPLE GROUP 1-PLACED Off to a flying start with his first French bred crop including BLACK THUNDER (winner of his maiden hurdle for Paul Nicholls in December), MEDINAS (bumper winner for Alan King) and TOUCH THE EDEN (flat winner in France, now in training with Willie Mullins).
A SIX-TIME GROUP 1 WINNING EUROPEAN CHAMPION
STANDING HIS FIRST SEASON AT YORTON IN 2012
Also sire in France of the Listed placed hurdler STORY MALINAS and juvenile hurdle winner MENELAS AR LEN.
Fee for 2012: £2,000 Oct 1st
A classic sire on the flat and now sire of GRADE 1 winning hurdler CASH AND GO, winner of the Paddypower.com Future Champions Novice Hurdle for Edward O'Grady at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting. The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham is his target. Also sire this season of unbeaten novice hurdler MUCH ACCLAIMED, winner of the Lartigue Hurdle (Gr.C) at the Listowel festival.
97 MARES COVERED IN HIS FIRST SEASON AT YORTON Fee for 2012: £2,500 Oct 1st
Contact: DAVID or TERESA FUTTER, Yorton Farm, Yorton, Nr. Shrewsbury SY4 3EP Telephone: 01939 220411 Mobile: 07860 670184 E: enquiries@yortonfarm.co.uk W: www.yortonfarm.co.uk
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Leading NH sires in France 2011 Sire TURGEON KAPGARDE BALLINGARRY POLIGLOTE TREMPOLINO saint des saints ASTARABAD MARTALIN ENRIQUE SHOLOKHOV GREAT PRETENDER DOM ALCO SLEEPING CAR KAHYASI IRE GOLDNEYEV ROBIN DES CHAMPS SLICKLY ULTIMATELY LUCKY HIGH YIELD ORATORIO
courtesy of France Galop
1st covering
Wnrs
Races Run
Wins
% wns to rns
1994 2004 2005 1998 2000 2003 2001 2005 2001 2006 1994 1994 2001 1990 2001 2003 2002 2006
11 18 25 20 15 15 10 15 12 6 10 10 8 8 10 12 3 8 5 3
242 237 209 188 167 134 144 195 100 58 150 84 132 109 135 142 65 124 69 22
17 32 35 27 21 22 14 17 21 15 14 14 11 9 11 16 3 10 10 6
7 14 17 14 13 16 10 9 21 26 9 17 8 8 8 11 5 8 14 27
Prize-money (€) 1,099,522 948,485 843,915 835,615 801,420 721.925 692,050 614,040 591,585 557,400 550,257 457,840 405,365 394,270 354,285 337.435 332,220 331,705 313,760 309,085
Leading young NH sires in France Sire
Av. Earn/foal 15,486 11,709 12,055 14,162 17,422 15,004 20,354 10,772 17,926 42,876 11,962 12,717 8,107 11,264 7,701 5,531 18,456 7,538 15,688 61,817
courtesy of France Galop
1st covering
Wnrs
Races Run
Wins
% wns to rns
Prize-money (€)
Av. Earn/foal
BALKO SOAVE LAYMAN MUHAYMIN NIGHT TANGO POLICY MAKER TOUCH OF THE BLUES BACHIR
2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007
7 3 3 2 3 2 2 1
46 49 34 20 37 27 15 20
13 3 4 3 5 2 2 3
28 6 12 15 14 7 13 15
342,000 103,000 90,000 82,000 75,000 54,000 52,000 45,000
23,000 9,000 8,000 27,000 9,000 5,000 17,000 7,000
GREAT PRETENDER PROTEKTOR bonbon rose VOIX DU NORD EPALO PRINCE KIRK MALINAS kotky bleu SINNDAR RISK SEEKER FORESTIER
2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006
8 7 8 5 5 4 5 4 2 2 1
123 114 95 75 98 51 52 45 22 22 22
15 10 10 9 8 5 6 5 4 4 1
12 9 11 12 8 10 12 11 18 18 5
484,000 331,000 325,000 272,000 191,000 166,000 130,000 113,000 100,000 78,000 66,000
16,000 17,000 15,000 21,000 8,000 24,000 7,000 9,000 20,000 20,000 17,000
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the stats man
What has happened to all the NH horses?
Asks Victor Sheahan after his research shows that runs per horse per season has been diminshing over the past 12 years
I
normally sigh when I hear older racing folk talk about the good old days. If you were to believe them, horses were tougher, jockeys were tougher, the sport had more characters and everything was somehow better. But to my surprise when I did a comparative study on the leading NH sires’ table over the past 20 years, it seems the traditionalists are almost certainly right when it comes to the assertion that horses were sounder in the past.
Methodology
I looked at the Racing Post tables of the 50 leading sires by prize-money earnings in Britain and Ireland in the years since the newspaper’s records began. I then aggregated the number of runners, winners, runs and wins for these top 50 sires and calculated the average number of runs per runner in a season and the average number of wins per winner. The results can be seen in the table below.
Summary of Findings
1. The average number of runs per horse per season is in freefall, dropping from over four per season to its current mark of 3.66. This is the major cause of concern arising from this research as it seems to indicate that our current NH horses are much less robust than their equivalents from only 20 years ago. 2. The jumping horses who do win, win far fewer races per season than in the past. The average number of wins has fallen from
NH Runs per horse in Britain and Ireland through each season from 1989 Rnrs
Wnrs
Runs
Wins
Av runs / horse
2010-11 2009-10 2005-06 2004-05 2000-01* 1999-00 1995-96 1994-95 1990-91 1989-90
5,347 5,347 4,962 4,194 3,912 3,616 3,294 3,190 2,438 2,207
1,434 1,419 1,199 1,136 923 963 939 895 751 649
19,585 19,802 18,849 15,975 13,574 14,105 12,943 13,015 10,362 9,137
2,121 2,126 1,769 1,742 1,402 1,522 1,583 1,536 1,313 1,158
3.66 3.70 3.80 3.81 3.47 3.90 3.93 4.08 4.25 4.14
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Possible reasons for decline
1. The question that arises is whether the reduced run frequency is a deliberate policy by trainers adopting a more protective and selective approach to racing their charges, or an indication that their charges cannot handle
(using Racing Post stallion statistics for top 50 sires)
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1.78 wins per season to 1.48 per season, a 17 per cent reduction. This may simply be a logical follow-on from the fact that all horses (winners and non-winners) are running much less often. 3. The impact of bigger book sizes is very apparent. The number of combined runners in a season for the top 50 sires went from 2,207 (an average of 42 runners per stallion) to 5,347 (average of 107 runners per stallion), a 142 per cent increase in 21 years.
Av wins / wnr 1.48 1.50 1.48 1.53 1.52 1.58 1.69 1.72 1.75 1.78
Wnrs to rnrs % 27 27 24 27 24 27 29 28 31 29
a more regular racing regime? It’s difficult to be definitive, but it is reasonable to assume that owners prefer to have their horses competing, if those horses are fit, well and capable of winning. As a trainer’s primary concern is to keep his owners content, I can see no reason why they would deliberately pursue a policy of fewer runs, apart from special cases where a horses handicap mark is being protected or campaigns are all about one race (e.g. Best Mate’s campaign and the Gold Cup). 2. Are trainers responsible for the decline? Perhaps increased string sizes with less individual attention to horses, coupled with altered training techniques such as interval training and all-weather gallops have caused an increase in injury rates? I don’t believe it to be case as horses are fitter today than 20 years ago – fitness is a hugely contributory factor in injury rates caused when racing – while improved veterinary techniques should also see faster rehabilitation from injuries. However, in the absence of statistical data we have to consider the possibility. 3. Blame the stallions and the bigger books. It’s easy to conclude that because stallion books are bigger and horses are running less often there is a “cause and effect” situation. I don’t subscribe to that theory. If we take an example based on a book of say 80 mares being “acceptable” and anything more than that being “excessive” it is easy to see logical difficulties in this approach. I fail to see how by virtue of covering a single mare beyond the magic number (80 in this case) that the quality of all the offspring could be affected, as this would require the genes of the foals in the already pregnant mares to somehow be altered by a subsequent event! More credibly it could be argued that bigger books mean that less thought was given to compatibility with the mare, but this is a subjective area and unless there is an obvious conformation issue on both sides it may not be quite so easy to prove a stallion selection was unwise. 3b. It’s not the bigger books – it is the bigger books being used on the wrong stallions. There is perhaps some merit in this argument. We have seen many examples of unproven new NH stallions attracting massive books of mares. If these stallions prove to be progenitors of unsound offspring then there will be an awful
Over three seasons, Desert Orchid ran in 23 races, an average of 7.6 times a season, far in excess of most leading horses today. Is it trainers, race conditions, soundness issues or stallions that are causing this?
lot of fragile offspring on the ground. Against that, the trend for bigger books has been of even greater benefit to the successful and proven stallions, who it should be hoped will therefore have an opportunity to transfer their positive attributes to even greater numbers. 4. It’s something else entirely... The decline in average number of starts is not exclusive to jumps racing – research on the number of lifetime starts in the US lifetime show that outings per horse in the country has almost halved since the 1950s. Unsound stallions who required medication to race is often put forward as a major cause and the internationalisation of bloodstock means that those bloodlines are prevalent here also. It is also possible that the modern thoroughbred has passed a tipping point in terms of soundness; it is after all a closed stud book and with every generation the level of
inbreeding is increasing. NH racing may just be another example of this and something more radical than tinkering with book sizes or alternative stallion selection will be required to make an appreciable difference to this trend.
Conclusion
We often don’t notice change when it occurs quite gradually. Looking in the mirror each morning the ovenight ageing process is imperceptible, but looking back on old photographs the transformations become obvious. Something similar is happening before our eyes in NH racing. Horses are racing and winning less often each season and the cumulative effect is now quite striking. This should be a matter of concern to all lovers of the sport and at the very least further and indepth research into the underlying causes is required.
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stallion focus Beneficial: the Knockhouse Stud stallion’s profile has been on an upwardly mobile curve
Moving on up
Katherine Fiddler of The Point-to-Point Racing Company profiles NH sire Beneficial, who is currently leading the British and Irish sires’ table
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leap year heralds the arrival of many things, including extra marriage proposals, a whole new batch of leaplings (those children born on February 29th) and, of course, this year the London Olympics. With the renewal of this global sporting event also comes a sense of anticipation that filters deftly throughout the nation. No matter how defiantly members of the population may
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profess to take no interest in the spectacle, the hopes of more or less the whole country are pinned on those few individuals who have made it to the pinnacle of their career. Weeks, months and even years of training is purely focused on a few short minutes, in which time those involved hope to be proven the best in the business. In short, it gives those who are not racing fans a glimpse into what it means to be part of the Cheltenham Festival.
Whether an owner, trainer, breeder, jockey, stable lad or spectator, those four days in March epitomise all that our wonderful sport has to offer, and best of all, we need only wait 12 months before the next meeting (long enough), rather than almost half a decade. To breed a Cheltenham winner is one of the heights to which NH breeders aspire, while Festival-winning progeny can boost a sire’s profile in a way infamous PR guru Max Clifford could only dream of. One such sire
stallion focus
Heading to the top
Last season saw the Knockhouse Stud resident progress to new heights in the rankings, sitting only behind the leading trio of Presenting, Oscar and King’s Theatre, while in terms of winners, Beneficial not only equalled Presenting under Rules, but also dethroned him as leading sire between the flags in the UK when sharing the British point-to-point title with Oscar on 40 apiece. This threat to the dominance of Presenting was seemingly no flash in the pan, as proven by the markedly different landscape seen at the top of the table so far through 2011-12: at the time of writing our muse, Beneficial, is at the top of the table aheadof Kings’ Theatre, with Presenting stalking in fifth. Last year’s number of winners under Rules, 85, has already been broken and Benefficient’s recent Grade 1 victory has helped put some daylight between his sire’s earnings and that of the current second on the table King’s Theatre. The title race is by no means over, and just as the Cheltenham Festival can make the year for one sire, it can break the title hopes of another.
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One of last season’s highlights came on a regular Saturday afternoon card at Navan, when the first four home in a 2m4f chase were all by Beneficial
but this proved the pinnacle of an unfortunate week with Adams Island unseating in the opening day’s Grade 3 Stewart Family Spinal Research Handicap Chase. At the time of going to press only the first stage of early-closing entries for the Festival 2012 were available, but this year sees a whole new crop of runners looking to earn their sire another coveted Cheltenham title. Kid Cassidy, recent winner of the Grade 2 Lightning Novices’ Chase after Menorah’s early exit, holds an entry to the Arkle, as does Realt Mor, a brother to Realt Dubh, who this year could be aimed at either the Queen Mother Champion Chase (G1) or the Ryanair (G1). Not surprisingly, given that 50 of his 85
winners have come over hurdles, the majority of Beneficial produce entered are being aimed at the various novice events over timber, most notably the five-year-old Monksland, winner of all three starts under Rules, and Make Your Mark, from the powerful yard of Willie Mullins, both of whom are currently listed for the Supreme Novices Mount Benbulben, second in a Grade 1 last time out, is one of several who hold entries for both the Neptune Investment Management and Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdles, including Vesper Bell and impressive Grade 1 Deloitte Novices’ Hurdle winner Benefficient. Whilst it’s easy for the Festival to become all-consuming, outside of the four-day extravaganza Beneficial has had, and looks set to have, many other winners on both sides of the Irish Sea, including three at Prestbury Park since March 2011. One of last season’s highlights came on a regular Saturday afternoon card at Navan, when the first four home in a 2m4f chase were all by Beneficial, led by The Hard Hat. Just 24 hours later at the end of the 201011 season, the final day of which saw a double courtesy of Surf And Turf for Jonjo O’Neill and Zitenka, the gauntlet was laid down as Apalachicola and Realt Dubh who both did the business in their native Ireland. A first domestic win came the following day from Bennynthejets and since then the tally has risen consistently with 25 now separating the leading duo of Beneficial and King’s Theatre.
Group winners aplenty
The break-through at Cheltenham
Such was the case in 2011, when Beneficial’s top contender for glory at Prestbury Park, Cooldine, sat out the latter months of the season on account of a wind operation, and promising novice chaser Thegreatjohnbrowne also missed his appointment. All was not lost, however, thanks to Realt Dubh’s Arkle third,
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who has enjoyed the Cheltenham treatment is Beneficial, whose son Cooldine’s 16l annihilation of the 2009 RSA Chase field, which included subsequent Hennessy winner Carruthers and dual Grade 1 scorer What A Friend, helped his sire to eighth place in the leading NH sires’ list. A position he has subsequently managed to build on. This was by no means a case of rags to riches – Beneficial had been gradually climbed the rankings for some years, whilst building up a reputation as one to watch in the NH scene. His best runner prior to the arrival of Cooldine was Gungadu, who progressed from Irish pointing to the yard of Paul Nicholls from where he went on to win the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase, before adding the Grade 3 Racing Post Chase to his CV a year later in 2008, the season in which his sire broke into the top ten. This came 12 months after his first top 20 place in 2006-07, having just missed out in 2004-05.
Realt Dubh finishing third in the 2011 Arkle
Of course, the quality of winners is just as important as quantity, and the former is something Beneficial is not short of in his own pedigree. Bred by Sir Robert McAlpine, Beneficial hails from an extremely successful family. His dam Youthful (Green Dancer) retired after two low-key but consistent seasons, winning over 1m4f and placing from eight to ten. It was her second career which proved
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de Deauville. His half-sister Water Lily (Riverman) was not only joint-third top-rated juvenile in France, but also produced the Grade 1-winning Talinum (Alydar).
Top Ville: top sire
Winning the Listed Dee Stakes at Chester: Beneficial followed up to win the King Edward VII Stakes
which proved the more lucrative however, counting the multiple 1-scoring Melbourne Cup hero Jeune (Kalaglow) and Listed-placed Dorset Duke (Beldale Flutter) amongst her five-winning produce. Beneficial added yet more black-type to her brood with his own exploits on the track. A Royal Ascot victory in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes followed by the Group 3 Scottish Classic marked the pinnacle of his career, which also included a further four wins and a narrow defeat in the Grade 1 Washington DC International. His second dam First Bloom (Primera), a former champion juvenile in France, went on to produce the 14-time winner First Prayer (Sanctus II), whose many victories also encompassed the Group 2 Grand Prix
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Top Ville, the sire of our subject, was topclass on the turf between 1m and 1m4f, his six victories including the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club and Prix Lupin. Off the track his greatest successes included the St Leger victor Toulon, Darara, the Group 1-winning dam of Dar Re Mi and Rewilding, and Pistolet Bleu. The latter, a Group 1 winner at both two and three, proved himself a quality dualpurpose sire before his untimely death at just 13. His last crop was born in 2001 which means that his progeny will soon be absent from our racecards, but for now fans can enjoy his most successful progeny Sizing Europe and I’msingingtheblues preparing to take on the best of Beneficial’s contenders, with both holding an entry for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the latter also a possibility for the Ryanair. The sibling rivalry between Beneficial and Pistolet Bleu continues if looking towards the Aintree Festival with the latter’s Cheltenham Foxhunter winner Cappa Bleu amongst the entries for the Grand National, in which Cooldine and Becauseicouldntsee form the Beneficial contingent.
Progeny in demand at the sales
By the time the National runners have passed the elbow, and one has been crowned a new Aintree hero, the British and Irish sales season will be amidst the spring round of horse in training events. Life in the auction houses has not been
easy in recent years, particularly in the NH field, and one notable development has been the increasing preference for the purchase of proven performers. In line with his increasing success on the track, average prices for three-year-olds and above by Beneficial had been increasing as the decade progressed, until a dip across the board hit in 2009. Nevertheless, prices for Beneficial progeny have recovered, and none with more gusto than those in the older horse category. In 2010, a career sale high of £125,000 was realised for Fiddlededee, a former Irish pointer and bumper-winning mare, a price which was topped last year when it was confirmed Beneficial progeny could command top prices as potential Festival contender Mount Benbulben left the Cheltenham sales ring with a £250,000 price tag. Two other paternal siblings, Make Your Mark and Handy Andy, also fetched six-figure sums, with a similar pattern seen in the sale of Beneficial four-year olds; the 2009 dip in prices followed by a year-on-year rise since. That’s not to say that buyers can’t find a bargain amongst the stallion’s offerings – Kid Cassidy fetched less than his current earnings when last sold for €28,000, whilst Cooldine made it to auction on the third attempt when withdrawn as a foal and a yearling before selling for just €10,000 as a three-year-old. So, with a Festival winner under his belt, upwardly mobile contenders aplenty and an fashionable name in the sales ring, is there anything more for Beneficial to achieve? Of course there is, and at present it looks as though he is well on track to achieve it – win the NH sires championship for a first year.
L L E T Y
F A R M S
STIMULATION Bay 2005 16.01⁄2 h.h. CHOISIR – DAMIANA (THATCHING)
By a Champion 2yo and Champion Sprinter from the DANEHILL Sire Line Exciting First Crop Foals
TIMEFORM RATED: 121
“ We have 6 colts and 2 fillies on the farm and they are an outstanding bunch. Reports from elsewhere have also been extremely postive.” DAVID HODGE FIRST FOALS IN 2012 • Fee: £3,000 1st Oct 80 MARES COVERED IN FIRST SEASON, 2011 19% Stakes mares • Excellent Fertility (92%) Tel/Fax: 01267 290528 David Hodge 07912 113178 Danny Molony 07952 597105 david@lletyfarms.com cd.molony@virgin.net STUD BROCHURE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT •
www.lletyfarms.com
southern hemisphere
Ellis buys top lot at Karaka... “ T ...for NZ$1.75 million, with overall figures comparable to last year’s returns
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I wanted to secure him for the New Zealand racing and breeding industry, it is essential that we retain horses like this in New Zealand
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he highly-anticipated colt by Fastnet Rock out of Nureyev’s Girl stole the spotlight on the second day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale at Karaka. While there was renewed vigour ringside among broad international buying bench, it was New Zealander David Ellis, who stepped up to buy the half-brother to Group 1 winner King’s Rose (Redoute’s Choice) for NZ$1.75 million. The colt became the sixth seven-figure yearling bought by Ellis at Karaka and the buyer admitted he paid more than expected. “I did expect a high price for this colt, and I thought I would get him for about NZ$1.5 million, but the others went beyond that,” said Ellis. “I wanted to secure him for the New Zealand racing and breeding industry, it is essential that we retain horses like this in New Zealand. “He is an outstanding individual and the fact that he’s by such a great sire out of a Nureyev mare gives him the potential to win Group 1 races. He is already 90 per cent sold with the remaining 10 per cent to be sold and I don’t anticipate that will be very difficult to do. “He will be trained by Jason Bridgman with a racing campaign intended to maximise his stud potential. If he’s as good as his sister we will be very happy.” Ellis was the leading buyer of the Premier Sale with 27 yearlings bought for NZ$6,262,500 at an average of NZ$231,944. The leading New Zealand buyer at Karaka for the last seven years, Ellis increased his spend significantly on 2011 where he bought 25 Premier Sale yearlings for $4,433,500. “I think it has been a very successful sale with terrific competition on the real athletes. We found it difficult to buy the good horses and think it has been a very successful two days,” commented Ellis. “To achieve that in a recession reflects very highly on the New Zealand industry. New Zealand Bloodstock, in my opinion, can take great heart that even in very difficult
economic times horses have still sold well to a huge international buying bench.” The Hong Kong Jockey Club – represented at Karaka by Mark Richards – was again active, buying 12 yearlings for NZ$2,655,000 to become the second leading buyer. The HKJC paid a top price of NZ$350,000 for two colts, one by Encosta de Lago and one by Thorn Park. Their purchases are destined for the Club’s International Sales next season. Particularly active was the vast Australian buying bench, with the likes of Gai Waterhouse and James Harron, John Chalmers, Bart Cummings, Hawkes Racing and John O’Shea all filling spots among the
top 10 buyers. The total spend by Australian buyers was NZ$26.6 million. ew Zealand agents Mulcaster Bloodstock, buying for Australian clients, and Michael Wallace, buying with Michael Freedman for Singapore, were among the few active local buyers in the top 20 and contributed to a total domestic spend of NZ$13.6 million. At the conclusion of the two-day Premier Sale, 350 yearlings sold for NZ$54,137,000 at an average of NZ$154,677 and clearance of 74
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The Karaka sales ring: David Ellis was this year’s leading buyer with an outlay of over NZ$6 million
southern hemisphere per cent. The median for the two-day session was NZ$120,000. Fastnet Rock topped the sires’ table for the Premier Sale with eight sold for an average of NZ$422,500. The leading New Zealand-based sire was Zabeel with 21 sold for an average of NZ$233,810 and a top price of NZ$600,000 paid by Dutch buyer Ger Beemsterboer for the filly out of La Quinta Gold. The leading first-season sire was Golden Slipper winner Sebring, with six yearlings sold at an average of NZ$155,000. This included a top price of NZ$260,000. New Zealand Bloodstock’s co-managing director Petrea Vela said there were some heartening results. “We were very pleased to see the market strengthen from yesterday, with a number of the better pedigreed horses coming through the ring today,” she said. “We have been thrilled with the buyer turnout at Karaka and there was plenty of good competition on the appealing lots. “It’s disappointing not to have been able to get the clearance rate up a bit higher.” For the 31st year in a row Sir Patrick Hogan’s Cambridge Stud was leading vendor by aggregate, with 43 yearlings sold for NZ$10,820,000 at an average of NZ$251, 628. Mark and Shelley Treweek’s Lyndhurst Farm, with 12 entries in the Premier Sale, was the leading vendor by average with nine sold for NZ$2,385,000 at an average of NZ$265,000. The second top price on day two was NZ$800,000 for the High Chaparral colt from La Souvenir three-quarter brother to So You Think. He was snapped up by leading Hong Kong bloodstock agent Willie Leung for his Hong Kong client Mr P So. The 2012 Select Sale concluded at Karaka with a Pentire colt providing the late highlight of the three-day sale. With 620 lots catalogued for the 2012 Select Sale across the three days, the results held up well and finished on a comparable level with 2011. A total of 415 horses were sold for NZ$19,114,500 (up from NZ$19,107,000 for 418 sold in 2011) at an average of NZ$46,059 (up from $45,711 in 2011) and a clearance of 74 per cent (up from 73 per cent in 2011). Over the Premier and Select sales, the aggregate showed a reduction of 12 per cent, and the average by six per cent. The median improved by four per cent and the clearance rate improved from 72 per cent to 75 per cent.
More Than Ready: has 10 per cent of this year’s Golden Slipper entries
The “Golden Slipper sire” well-represented at second entry stage for this year’s renewal More Than Ready has weight of numbers on his side to cement his reputation as “the Golden Slipper sire” of the current era in 2012 with more than 10 per cent of the second acceptances for the $3.5 million Classic. Of the 258 declarations lodged with the Australian Turf Club, 26 of the aspiring twoyear-olds are by More Than Ready giving him the largest representation of any sire. More Than Ready is among an elite few stallions to have sired multiple Golden Slipper winners. His first winner came in 2008 via Sebring, who was later sold to stud for a reported A$28 million. The year after, Queenslander Phelan Ready became the first horse since Dance Hero to take the Magic Millions/ Golden Slipper double. More Than Ready has sired the winner or place-getter in the last four Golden Slippers: More Strawberries (2010) and Elite Falls (2011) both drew barrier 14 in their respective attempts before storming into the placings. Among More Than Ready’s 2012 Golden Slipper hopefuls are the unbeaten Gai Waterhouse-trained duo Raceway and Later Gator, the debut winner Faustus (John O’Shea) as well as the Victorian-based pair – February’s Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner Samaready, and Cambiaso. Vinery Stud’s Adam White believes that a third Golden Slipper is well within reach in 2012. “Gai’s pair by More Than Ready both won their first starts by 4l and have the speed that is required to win a Slipper,” said White.
“Gai has already trained the quinella in the Magic Millions this year and there’s no reason why she couldn’t do it again in the Slipper with Raceway and Later Gator. “Faustus is still a bit of a dark horse. The colt was very good on his debut at Rosehill and his connections elected to bypass the Magic Millions to concentrate on the Slipper.” The Vinery-owned Samaready, winner of the Prelude by 3l, and the Maribyrnong Trial winner Cambiaso remain on the Blue Diamond path en route to the Slipper. Trained by Mick Price, Samaready waltzed to the top of the market for the A$1million Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes after a scintillating performance in the Prelude over 1,100m at Caulfield. “The Blue Diamond is obviously their first priority, but the Golden Slipper evidently remains a realistic option,” said White. “They are the richest races for two-year-olds in the world and the prestige and stud value waiting for the winner is undeniable. We are thrilled that More Than Ready is destined to play such a big part in the race yet again.” More Than Ready has proven himself to be one of the world’s undisputed source of quality two-year-olds. His honours include champion first-season sire in Australia in 2006, champion sire of two-year-olds in Australia in 2008 and 2009, and champion US sire of two-year-olds in 2010 after siring the winners of both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile divisions. There are 30 yearlings by the sire catalogued at the Inglis Easter Sale this year.
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southern hemisphere
Stayer Manighar puts himself in line for tilt at the BMW
Manighar (red): on his way to finishing third in last season’s Ascot Gold Cup behind Fame And Glory
THE ex-Luca Cumani stayer Manighar (Linamix) turned on the style for new trainer Peter Moody at Caulfield in the Carlyon Cup (G3) giving Moody the first part of a double on the card; Black Caviar registered her 18th straight win later. Manighar’s win announced his firm credentials as a BMW contender for this autumn’s southern-hemisphere season. The classy six-year-old has wasted no time in showing Moody that he has seamlessly settled into Australian life, zipping around the mile and pulling clear in the straight to notch his first win in more than two years. Shadowfax ran second with Zeewap powering on well into third. Manighar hadn’t run since a productive spring when he finished fourth in the Caulfield Cup before collecting an impressive fifth in the Melbourne Cup for Cumani. He also ran second to Americain in the Zipping Classic. Since then the versatile grey galloper has changed stable, and part-owner Terry Henderson wasn’t surprised to see the move paying instant dividends. “Luca always said he thought the horse would respond to the Australian way of training,” said Henderson. “He’s a world-class trainer for a very good reason and it’s fantastic when you can get a guy like him and a guy like Pete working together to get this horse where he is.” Moody wasn’t surprised by Manighar’s first-up effort, but admitted the horse had come a long way over the last month. “We came here with an open mind, he’s been going nicely at home,” said Moody.
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“With all due respect four or five weeks ago he was a 4,000m hurdler, but as we shortened and sharpened his work up the last couple of weeks he’s started to show a turn of foot. “I suggested to the boys that it’s not going to be silly to run him in a mile-type race. “If he ran to his work he was going to run okay, but you want to see them take it before you put your head on the block, particularly a horse you don’t know a lot about.” Moody added that the horse’s next major assignment will be the Group 1 Australian Cup (2,000m), but is unsure whether he’d run again to prepare. “He’ll go to the Australia Cup and the BMW, it’ll just depend whether he runs between today and the Cup or what path we go, but they’re his two targets.” When trained in Britain, Manighar reached a career high BHA rating of 114 after two Listed victories in France as well as a Group 2 win in the Prix Chaudenay at Longchamp in 2009. He also finished fourth in the Ascot Gold Cup (G1) to Fame And Glory last spring and second to Americain in 2010 in the Prix Kergorlay (G2). He was given a southernhemisphere campaign through October and November 2010 and 2011 by Cumani, before transferring to Moody’s care after finishing a three-quarters of a length second in the Zipping Classic (G2) last November. Bred by the Aga Khan, he is a half-brother to French 1m4f Group 3 winner Minatlya and useful French winner Minted. His dam Mintly Fresh is descendant of the top-class US racemare Politely.
Another sprint star for Bel Esprit Bel Sprinter, an impressive winner over 1,000m at Caulfield in February, possesses many of the genes that produced the sprint queen Black Caviar. Both are by Bel Esprit, one of the best sons of the Nijinsky sire Royal Academy, and both have the outstanding influence Snippets in their immediate pedigree. Snippets is the sire of Gavroche, the dam of Bel Sprinter, and of the grand-dam of Black Caviar. Bel Sprinter is shaping up as another star for Bel Esprit. The four-year-old gelding is trained for his Victorian-based breeder G.E. Bailey and seven others by Jason Warren at Mornington and has narrowly missed winning all of his six starts. He won his first four starts, three of them in Melbourne, and was then beaten into second by a long neck in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis at Flemington in September. Those behind him included Phelan Ready, Toorak Toff, Temple of Boom and Aloha. Gavroche is now domiciled at Cornerstone Stud in South Australia and was covered by Hussonet last season. She showed good speed over 1,000m, her nine outings including a win at Bairnsdale, a second at Mornington and two thirds at Sale and Cranbourne. She is powerfully bred, being by Snippets from the US-bred La Miserable, a daughter of the Mr. Prospector sire Miswaki. La Miserable’s dam Miranda is a Forli mare out of Baronova, and is a descendant of Monarchy, a noted matriarch and sister to Round Table. Bel Sprinter and Black Caviar are among 270 winners of 700 races, who between them have earned over A$22 million, by the 12-year-old Bel Esprit. They include 13 stakes winners. He is currently in the top 10 in the Australian sires’ table by earnings, winners and wins for 2011-12 with 76 winners of 104 races and A$3.1 million. In 2010-11 he was the fifth top sire on earnings in Australia with 124 winners of 216 races and A$7,857,236 won. Black Caviar contributed A$2,990,800 in prize-money, but 11 other runners earned in excess of A$100,000.
rich hill stud
A Rich vein of form
Darryl Sherer visits Rich Hill Stud, Sir Percy’s winter quarters and chats to John Thompson
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iming, as they say, is everything. At a time when southernhemisphere owners are clamouring to purchase staying horses, the tide is swinging back towards purchasing horses in New Zealand, traditionally the source of Classic and cup horses for Australian buyers in the past. Under these circumstances studmaster John Thompson could be forgiven for allowing himself the luxury of a wry smile. Rich Hill Stud was founded in 1994 and is set among rolling pasture at Walton in the Matamata and now comprises 320 acres of lush pasture in the heart of the fertile Waikato basin. The name Rich Hill originates from the homeland of John’s grandfather Vic Troughton who grew up in Richhill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He arrived in the Waikato district in the early 1900s and became a successful and respected dairy farmer. Thompson and wife Colleen currently preside over a current stallion roster that would appear to be perfectly attuned to the current market status. The southern-hemisphere market views Pentire as a proven sire of Group winners and against that backdrop of success it is easy
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Two of the Rich Hill team: above, the 18-year-old Peintre who is still going strong and is still popular with breeders, and, right, the new kid on the block, Melbourne Cup winner Shocking
to forget that the son of Be My Guest was a high-class, middle-distance runner in Europe where his wins included the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Pentire retired to stud in New Zealand and in Japan in 1997. He shuttled back to Japan until the 2004 northern-hemisphere season when he rerouted to Germany instead. Following his return from Europe for the 2005 season he ceased to shuttle and has remained since at Rich Hill. “Last season (2010) was his best ever. We closed his book off at 135 mares,” says Thompson. “We haven’t matched that total this year, but he is still very popular with local breeders looking for a proven source of Group 1 performers. Mares in foal to him include the dams of Zarita, Mufhasa, He’s Remarkable and Kincaple.” Alongside Pentire stands the Epsom Derby winner Sir Percy, whose first southernhemisphere-conceived yearlings sell in 2012, as well as the Melbourne and Australia Cup winner Shocking. Complementing this trio is the sprinter Any Suggestion, a grandson of Danehill, but it is fair to say the emphasis is firmly on providing breeders with the opportunity to breed a high-class Classic type of racehorse. Rich Hill shuttles Sir Percy in from Lanwades Stud in Newmarket, but, like many
other farms in Australasia they have found the shuttle concept has changed dramatically over the years. Fifteen years ago the shuttle stallion was considered superior and dominated the southern-hemisphere commercial broodmare band. However success in the northernhemisphere does not necessarily transfer into the Australiasian racing enviroment and genetic pool and homebred stallion prospects with the right pedigree and race record are easier to market for mares than their northern-hemisphere counterparts. “It is still important in New Zealand to have access to high-class international race performance and bloodlines to complement our local product,” explains Thompson. “Stallions such as Sir Percy achieve this and we are very much looking forward to selling this first crop of yearlings. “We really are lucky to be able to stand him and while most people focus on him being a Derby winner, you have to remember that he was an early winning two-year-old a 6f maiden in May and then trained on to win two of the world’s most respected Group 1 races in the Dewhurst at Newmarket and the Derby. He had a tremendous turn of foot and he acted on good to firm ground, ideal for our type of racing conditions here.” When Thompson speaks it pays to listen.
rich hill stud
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It is still important in New Zealand to have access to high-class international race performance and bloodlines to complement our local product. Stallions such as Sir Percy achieve this
“
His father, the world-renowned vet Colin Thompson, and his mother Irene bred and sold the likes of New Zealand Horse of the Year Mufhasa. Other high-class horses to come off the farm include the dual Australian Classic winner Zarita, the Group 1-winning sprinters Recurring and Penny Gem, that quartet all being by foundation Pentire. “The eight-time Group 1 winner Mufhasa was sold for NZ$50,000 at the NZB Karaka Premier Sale, while Recurring sold for NZ$40,000. Mufhasa has been an outstanding horse. He is typical of so many of the Pentire stock as he is sound and versatile,” he says. Thompson feels it is important for New Zealand studs to have ownership in their stallions and Shocking, the farm’s latest recuit is an example of this. And it was simply a case of Thompson being at the right place at the right time. “I was at the Easter Sales selling yearlings when two mates, Gary Mudgway and Troy Corstens, invited me out for dinner,” recalls Thompson. “I ended up sitting next to Laurence Eales. We didn’t know each other and naturally started up a a conversation. Halfway through he casually said he owned Shocking – I said he’d make a lovely stallion, and he answered ‘are you interested in standing him?’” The rest, as they say, is history with the Melbourne Cup winner having just completed his first season at a fee of NZ$12,000. He proved extremely popular with breeders, covering in excess of 150 mares. Thompson says he was surprised that an Australian stud hadn’t done a deal to secure
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Rich by name and by nature: the farm in the Waikato basin is perfect for growing thoroughbreds
the stallion, a son of leading sire Strret Cry and out of a Danehill mare. “He showed the turn of foot at weight-forage to win the Australian Cup over 2,000m and the Makybe Diva Stakes over 1,600m at Flemington. To me Shocking is the type of horse that Australians are travelling around trying to buy, so there is some irony there!” smiles Thompson. “The Hunter Valley studs are concentrating more on speed, so I would have thought a Victorian-based stud would have chased a horse like Shocking. One thing for sure,
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he will get a better quality of mare in New Zealand that he would have attracted in Australia. “We have syndicated him into 44 shares, and most of the leading New Zealand breeders having taken a share, including Sir Patrick Hogan. Pentire is 18 now so we were looking for a horse to replace him with. “Shocking has an international pedigree being by Street Cry, a horse who has taken the world by storm with progeny such as the Breeders’ Cup and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Zenyatta and who was such
a cult-figure in America. We’re confident he will be a highly successful commercial addition to the New Zealand breeding industry. “His progeny will have also great appeal to our overseas buyers, who come here to buy tough, sound horses who can perform at the elite level from 1,600 to 3,200 metres.” Thompson’s opinion is backed up by Shocking’s former trainer Mark Kavanagh. “The turn of foot he showed in the Australian Cup was nothing short of amazing, and when he won the Melbourne Cup he sat three deep all the way and not many horses would be able to do that,” remembers Kavanagh. “He got better with age and he was the quietest and most relaxed horse around the stable, he was right up there with the best of them. He’s gone to a quality stud where he will get the very best opportunities.” Rich Hill is to offer a draft of five at the Inglis Easter yearling sale: one lot by O’Reilly, two by Zabeel and one by Peintre. Two years ago the stud sold a Zabeel half-sister to Zarita for A$1.3 million in Sydney, the highest-price yearling sold at public auction by the farm. “Of course it is hard work but it is my life and I love it,” sums up Thompson.
HAAFHD
Steve Knowles, Malton Road, York YO32 9TH 01904 424573 / 07786 260904 steve@beechwoodgrangestud.com www.beechwoodgrangestud.com
2001 by Alhaarth – Al Bahathri (Blushing Groom)
EUROPEAN CHAMPION 3-Y-O 1st: 1st: 1st: Winner of
Group 1 2000 Guineas Group 1 Champion Stakes Group 3 Craven Stakes five races and £492,288
Multiple stakes sire in 2011 of 55 individual winners
First season in Yorkshire in 2012 Fee: £2,500 Oct 1st (all inclusive vet scheme optional)
DESIDERATUM 2002 by Darshaan – Desired (Rainbow Quest)
GROUP RACE WINNER WITH A STAR STALLION’S FAMILY 1st: 1st: 2nd: Winner of
Group 3 Prix du Lys Listed Prix d’Avre Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris four races and £152,677
23 Group winners under the first three dams
First crop are four-year-olds of 2012 Fee: £1,500 Oct 1st
BEECHWOOD GRANGE STUD
equine nutrition
Balance is key when feeding a stallion Keeping a stallion’s weight at an optimal level is vital through the spring’s busy covering season, writes Dr Clarissa Brown-Douglas
P
roper nutritional management of the breeding stallion is vital for a successful stud season. Breeding stallions are often the most difficult horses on a farm to maintain at optimal body condition; some become too lean at the height of breeding season, while others are overweight all year round. There is no advantage to having an overweight stallion. Fat stallions do not perform better, nor have superior seminal characteristics than those in a more lean condition. Extremely overweight stallions are also thought to have lowered libido. In fact, research and observations indicate that overweight stallions are at greater risk of laminitis, colic, insulin resistance, lameness and joint strain, particularly of the hind legs, which is reflective of the strain placed on them during breeding, and have decreased life expectancy. By providing a carefully balanced diet and monitoring weight regularly, stallions can easily be maintained in an optimal body condition all year round. From a nutritional standpoint, the act of breeding can loosely be classified as “work”. According to Nutrient Requirements of Horses, produced by the National Research Council, breeding stallions expend nearly the same amount of energy as performance horses do in light work. This may be slightly elevated when stallions are bred multiple times a day. Stallions also vary greatly in the amount
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Dick Turpin looking in great order at the February TBA stallion parade. It is important for stallions to be at a key “fighting weight” ahead of their stud duties through the spring
of exercise they give themselves; some are naturally more sedentary than others. During the covering season, nervous stallions may burn valuable calories fence-walking, box circling and pacing. Breeding may not be the only work stallions perform. Some studs choose to exercise their stallions, which will increase their energy requirements. The breeding stallion requires, above all else, a balanced diet. First and foremost, stallions should be provided with highquality roughage (pasture, hay or haylage), consuming approximately 1.5lb to 2lb of hay or haylage per 100lbs of body weight. A 1,200lb stallion should therefore be offered 18-24lb of hay daily. The minimum amount of hay offered should be one per cent of body weight, ideally 1.5 per cent. Depending upon the time of year, good quality pasture may supply some or all of the stallion’s roughage needs. During the covering season, the addition of energy-dense feeds is necessary to satisfy calorie requirements for the increased workload of breeding. No more than 0.75lbs of concentrate feed per 100lbs of body weight should be fed to a
stallion per day, and no single meal should weigh more than 5lb. Fortified feeds will contain the vitamins and minerals stallions need for optimal nutrition. As with all horses, stallions should have access to a white salt block or have salt added to their feed. If the stallion is consuming a wellbalanced diet, the addition of other vitamins and minerals will not necessarily enhance fertility. Although much information has been discussed over the years, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that additional vitamin C supplements or zinc additives boost reproductive performance. However, it is important that the stallion’s diet is properly balanced. Many stallions are maintained on straight oats and hay alone. Straight cereal grains will contribute to weight gain, but are unbalanced and lacking in many of the essential minerals. When combined with hay, the diet will be lacking in vitamins, particularly vitamin E. Balancing a straight grain diet with a feed balancer or feeding a specially formulated stallion or breeding feed is recommended because they have been designed to provide balanced nutrition for breeding stock. In addition to energy, protein, vitamins
equine nutrition and minerals, stallion feeds may contain specialist nutrients such as omega 3 fatty acids and natural vitamin E. Sperm contains high levels of omega 3 fatty acids and studies in humans and boars show enhanced fertility with dietary omega 3 supplementation. Although research in stallions is ongoing, there have been several studies suggesting improved seminal characteristics with a diet supplemented with omega 3 fats. Natural vitamin E is recommended in stallion diets, especially for those with reduced access to fresh pasture as vitamin E is an important antioxidant that must be supplied by the diet. Due to their high fatty acid content, sperm cells are at great risk of oxidative damage, so ensuring adequate intake of antioxidants such as vitamin E is important. Research carried out by Kentucky Equine Research has shown that natural source vitamin E has superior bioavailability to synthetic source vitamin E, so read the feed/ supplement label carefully. One further additive that some stallion owners consider is l-carnitine. Recent research has indicated that l-carnitine may improve sperm quality, including motility
and sperm shape, in those stallions with questionable sperm quality. Overweight stallions is a common problem, so they should have restricted access to pasture, especially in the spring, and only enough feed to ensure the stallion’s vitamin and mineral requirements are being met. The easiest way to ensure the overweight stallion’s requirements are being met is to feed a multipurpose vitamin and mineral supplement/balancer. As the covering season approaches, stallions should be in moderate to fleshy body condition, which means the stallion’s ribs should be palpable but not visible and minimal fat may be deposited along the withers, behind the shoulder, and around the tailhead. Once an ideal weight has been achieved, every attempt should be made to maintain the stallion’s weight throughout the season. This is best achieved by weighing the horse periodically, usually weekly or fortnightly. A weight tape or portable scales can also help track weight. An extremely thin stallion may not have the energy stores necessary to carry on through an arduous covering season without his performance suffering. Stallions become too thin when they expend more calories than
they consume. Some stallions will have reduced appetite during the covering season as the anxiety surrounding the breeding shed may prevent them from finishing meals. If this is the case, effort should be made to make meals especially palatable. The use of molasses and other appetising feedstuffs will typically encourage an otherwise distracted stallion to eat. To encourage weight gain, provide free-choice access to high-quality roughage (usually in the form of pasture and/or grass hay or haylage) and supplement with the recommended amount of a fortified commercial concentrate. If a stallion fails to gain weight on this basic diet, an oil supplement such as rice bran or vegetable oil can be included in the ration. Because of the energy density of oils, stallions can consume many more calories in a single meal. One benefit of a fat-enriched diet is a glossy coat, which will enhance the stallion’s appearance. During the off-season, stallions may be maintained on high-quality roughage and a concentrated balancer pellet alone, particularly if they are good doers. If a stallion requires additional energy, feed only enough to maintain optimal body weight, being sure not to overfeed.
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Vino Veritas (Chief’s Crown-Wild Vintage (Alysheba))
F
arankel was the undisputed horse of the year in 2011, lighting up the season with a string of fantastic achievements. For those who competed against him however, the enjoyment must have been somewhat tempered by continually watching him power ahead. Unsurprisingly, named the Best Racehorse in the World, Frankel stood above his rivals, but once the champion is removed from the equation, plenty of smart performers emerge from his shadow. One such now is Slim Shadey, who twice chased home the champion, once at a distance of 15l in the Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) at two, and again in the 2,000 Guineas when fourth at 200-1, 17l in arrears of Frankel. Transferred across the Atlantic into the care of ex-pat trainer Simon Callaghan, Slim Shadey opened his US account with ninth place in an allowance race at Santa Anita on January 2 before scoring over 1m2f ten days later. It was a big leap into graded company, but the son of Val Royal proved that he can mix it with the best when triumphing in the San Marcos Stakes (G2) in February. Bred and owned by Phil Cunningham of Cockney Rebel fame and out of the Chief’s Crown mare Vino Veritas, Slim Shadey may not have seemed the most obvious choice for graded glory. Offered at the Brightwells Ascot Sales in December 2009, he failed to find a buyer at £1,000 – though his trip through the ring did qualify him to run in the lucrative Weatherbys Insurance £300,000 2yo Stakes – and he was put in training with Stan Moore.
“
Vino Veritas was also sold in foal to Val Royal, a son of Bullish Luck’s sire Royal Academy, and, of course, the sire of Cockney Rebel
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Mare of the month
mare of the month
Slim Shadey: is a descendant of Margarethen, the dam of Doff The Derby, the dam of Generous
Debuting in a maiden in June, he finished mid-division when challenging for the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, but broke his maiden on his next start at Ascot over 7f. Another stakes assault saw him finish second in the Listed Washington Singer Stakes before scooping a decent prize when fourth in the Weatherbys sales race. After his two clashes with Frankel, Slim Shadey seemed to lose his way, finishing last or second last in his next five starts, including the Irish 2,000 Guineas. On what would be his final start in Britain, he could manage only sixth of 11 in a handicap at Newmarket. A change is a good as a rest and having received both, Slim Shadey looks set for a successful campaign in the US. But the colt’s success will not be a surprise to connections as his is a family that traces to some of the best thoroughbreds ever bred. Vino Veritas was trained by James Fanshawe for owner-breeder Car Colston Stud and was well beaten in two starts. Offered at the Tattersalls July Sale in 2000 she failed to find a buyer in the ring at 9,500gns, but produced her first foal, a colt by Efisio, the following year for breeder Catherine Hurley. Fillies by Bahhare and Desert Sun followed, with the former, named Nora Christie, winning two minor handicaps in Ireland. Vino Veritas made her second trip to the sales in 2003 when sold for €3,500 at Goffs November, in foal to Fath. The resulting filly was unplaced on her only start in the UK before being exported to Hungary. Vino Veritas’s already ordinary breeding record was not enhanced by two barren
years to Val Royal and Noverre, but when she reappeared at the Tattersalls December Mares’ Sale in 2007, Cunningham had to go to 30,000gns to secure her, nearly ten times her previous price tag. The reason was simple. When Vino Veritas was offered at Goffs, her younger half-brother Al Moughazel had won two minor starts. But by December 2007, he had been re-named Bullish Luck and had won five Group/Grade 1 victories in Hong Kong and Japan as well a third in the Dubai World Cup (G1). Vino Veritas was also sold in foal to Val Royal, a son of Bullish Luck’s sire Royal Academy, and, of course, the sire of Cockney Rebel, who had that season won both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas for Cunningham. The allure of Vino Veritas was obvious to Cunningham, and now looks to have been a very shrewd investment, given that he was also purchasing Slim Shadey in utero. Since foaling Slim Shadey in 2008, the mare has been in a monogamous relationship with Cunningham’s Guineas hero, producing a filly by Cockney Rebel in 2009, who, as Na Zdorovie, broke her maiden at Chester last August. Vino Veritas went on to foal a colt in 2010, a filly last year and is once again due to Cockney Rebel this year. Slim Shadey’s victory in the US was a homecoming of sorts – the family’s US roots date back to the 1920s when the Celt mare Marguerite, Slim Shadey’s eighth dam, was foaled at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. That mare earned her place in the record books as dam of the 1930 US Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, still the only US Triple Crown winner to sire another achiever of that feat, as well as the Middle Park Stakes winner Foxbrough, and two outstanding US handicap performers in Fighting Fox and Petee-Wrack. Slim Shadey’s fifth dam, Margarethen (Tulyar), was also a top-class performer who also proved her worth at stud, in the broodmare band of Nelson Bunker Hunt. Her progeny included the blue hen Doff The Derby, dam of the Classic winners Generous and Imagine, as well as the Prix Ganay (G1) heroine Trillion, who was named the US champion grass mare of 1979 and champion older mare in France. She also, of course, went on to produce the mighty Triptych, winner of nine Group 1s in France, Britain and Ireland.
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international database Trick (USA)) 2 Wild Mia (USA) 5 gr/ro f Wildcat Heir (USA) - Love Mia (ARG) (El Sultan (ARG)) 3 Unzip Me (USA) 6 ch f City Zip (USA) Escape With Me (USA) (Arazi (USA)) 3 Separate Forest (USA) 5 ch f Forestry (USA) - Separata (CHI) (Sam M (USA))
The Global Database
Data supplied by Weatherbys USA 1 - ROBERT J FRANKEL STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 1, 9f 1 Bauble Queen (USA) 4 b/br f Arch (USA) - Muneefa (USA) (Storm Cat (USA)) 2 Turning Top (IRE) 6 b/br f Pivotal (GB) - Pietra Dura (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux) 3 Miss Mittagong (USA) 5 b f Pleasantly Perfect (USA) - Go Go (USA) (Falstaff (USA)) 2 - OLD HAT STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 1, 6f 1 Sacristy (USA) 3 b/br f Pulpit (USA) Christies Treasure (CAN) (Belong To Me (USA)) 2 Say A Novena (USA) 3 b f Songandaprayer (USA) - Rabiadella (USA) (Dynaformer (USA)) 3 Bet to Win (USA) 3 ch f Pulpit (USA) Wild Crazy Lady (USA) (Touch Gold (USA)) 3 - MONROVIA STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 2, 6f 110yds 1 Mizdirection (USA) 4 gr/ro f Mizzen Mast (USA) - Deceptive (USA) (Clever
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4 - SHAM STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 7, 8f
(CAN)) 2 Balladry (USA) 4 gr/ro c Unbridled’s Song (USA) - Storm Song (USA) (Summer Squall (USA)) 3 Prayer For Relief (USA) 4 b/br c Jump Start (USA) - Sparklin Lil (USA) (Mr Sparkles (USA)) 9 - HAL’S HOPE STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 14, 8f
1 Out of Bounds (USA) 3 ch c Discreet Cat (USA) - Unbridled Elaine (USA) (Unbridled’s Song (USA)) 2 Secret Circle (USA) 3 b c Eddington (USA) - Ragtime Hope (USA) (Dixieland Band (USA)) 3 Longview Drive (USA) 3 ch c Pulpit (USA) - Wild Vision (USA) (Wild Again (USA))
1 Jackson Bend (USA) 5 ch c Hear No Evil (USA) - Sexy Stockings (USA) (Tabasco Cat (USA)) 2 Sangaree (USA) 7 ch c Awesome Again (CAN) - Mari’s Sheba (USA) (Mari’s Book (USA)) 3 Cool Blue Red Hot (USA) 4 b/br c Harlan’s Holiday (USA) - Paris Rose (USA) (Accelerator (USA))
5 - SAN PASQUAL STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 7, 8f 110yds
10 - FORT LAUDERDALE STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 14, 8f 110yds
1 Uh Oh Bango (USA) 5 b/br r Top Hit (USA) - French Debutante (USA) (French Deputy (USA)) 2 Tres Borrachos (USA) 7 b g Ecton Park (USA) - Pete’s Fancy (CAN) (Peteski (CAN)) 3 Skipshot (USA) 5 ch c Skip Away (USA) - Heavenly Note (USA) (Sunny’s Halo (CAN)) 6 - MARSHUA’S RIVER STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 7, 8f 110yds 1 Heavenly Landing (USA) 5 b f Pulpit (USA) - Peace River Lady (USA) (Woodman (USA)) 2 La Reine Lionne (USA) 5 b f Leroidesanimaux (BRZ) - Unbridled Lover (USA) (Unbridled (USA)) 3 Tapitsfly (USA) 5 gr/ro f Tapit (USA) Flying Marlin (USA) (Marlin (USA)) 7 - DAYTONA STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 8, 6f 110yds 1 Caracortado (USA) 5 ch g Cat Dreams (USA) - Mons Venus (CAN) (Maria’s Mon (USA)) 2 Victory Pete (USA) 7 b c Five Star Day (USA) - Blabby B (USA) (Tabasco Cat (USA)) 3 Mr Gruff (USA) 8 b/br c Mr Greeley (USA) - Ruff (USA) (Clever Trick (USA)) 3 Regally Ready (USA) 5 ch c More Than Ready (USA) - Kivi (USA) (King of Kings (IRE)) 8 - SAN FERNANDO STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 14, 8f 110yds 1 Tapizar (USA) 4 b c Tapit (USA) Winning Call (USA) (Deputy Minister
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1 Silver Medallion (USA) 4 b c Badge of Silver (USA) - Another Vegetarian (USA) (Stalwart (USA)) 2 Hollinger (CAN) 5 gr/ro g Black Minnaloushe (USA) - Dynamite Cocktail (USA) (Dynaformer (USA)) 3 Kindergarden Kid (USA) 5 b c Dynaformer (USA) - Amelia (USA) (Dixieland Band (USA)) 11 - SANTA YNEZ STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 15, 6f 110yds 1 Reneesgotzip (USA) 3 ch f City Zip (USA) - No Dress Code (USA) (Distorted Humor (USA)) 2 Made To Love Her (USA) 3 ch f Stevie Wonderboy (USA) - Love Boot (USA) (Storm Boot (USA)) 3 Painted Woman (USA) 3 b f Forest Wildcat (USA) - Lawanda (USA) (Pioneering (USA)) 12 - SAN GABRIEL STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 16, 9f 1 Norvsky (USA) 6 b g Vronsky (USA) Fimbrelith (USA) (Flying Paster (USA)) 2 Jeranimo (USA) 6 b c Congaree (USA) - Jera (USA) (Jeblar (USA)) 3 The Usual Q T (USA) 6 b g Unusual Heat (USA) - Lunge (USA) (Western Fame (USA)) 13 - PALOS VERDES STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 21, 6f 1 Frumious (USA) 6 b/br c Grindstone (USA) - Eternal Legend (USA) (Gold Legend (USA)) 2 Galientos (USA) 5 b c More Than Ready (USA) - Silent Circle (USA) (Indian
Charlie (USA)) 3 Mensa Heat (USA) 6 b/br g Unusual Heat (USA) - Chi Chi Nette (USA) (Ole’ (USA)) 14 - LECOMTE STAKES, G3, Fair Grounds, January 21, 8f 1 Mr Bowling (USA) 3 b/br c Istan (USA) - Goldilock’s Bear (USA) (Irish Tower (USA)) 2 Z Dager (USA) 3 b c Mizzen Mast (USA) - Fees Waived (USA) (Wavering Monarch (USA)) 3 Shared Property (USA) 3 b/br g Scat Daddy (USA) - Yoursmineours (USA) (Belong To Me (USA)) 15 - COLONEL E R BRADLEY HANDICAP, G3, Fair Grounds, January 21, 8f 110yds 1 Mr Vegas (USA) 5 ch c Freud (USA) Lhotse (USA) (The Minstrel (CAN)) 2 Dubious Miss (USA) 8 b/br c E Dubai (USA) - Cryptoclover (USA) (Mountain Cat (USA)) 3 Strike Impact (USA) 8 b c Smart Strike (CAN) - Foret Noire (USA) (Time For A Change (USA)) 16 - LA CANADA STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, January 22, 8f 110yds 1 Include Me Out (USA) 4 b/br f Include (USA) - Don’t Trick Her (USA) (Mazel Trick (USA)) 2 Great Hot (BRZ) 4 b/br f Orientate (USA) - That’s Hot (USA) (Seeking The Gold (USA)) 3 Tiz Flirtatious (USA) 4 b/br f Tizbud (USA) - Masquerade Belle (USA) (Victory Gallop (CAN)) 17 - SANTA YSABEL STAKES, G3, Santa Anita, January 28, 8f 110yds 1 Willa B Awesome (USA) 3 ch f Awesome Gambler (USA) - Cause I’m Tricky (USA) (Nineeleven (USA)) 2 Killer Graces (USA) 3 ch f Congaree (USA) - Heatherdoesntbluff (USA) (Old Trieste (USA)) 3 Lady of Shamrock (USA) 3 b/br f Scat Daddy (USA) - Blushing Issue (USA) (Blushing John (USA)) 18 - SANTA MONICA STAKES, G1, Santa Anita, January 28, 7f 1 Home Sweet Aspen (USA) 4 ch f Candy Ride (ARG) - My Gal Groovy (USA) (Groovy (USA)) 2 Sugarinthemorning (USA) 4 b f Candy Ride (ARG) - Social Belle (USA) (In Excess) 3 She’s Cheeky (USA) 7 b f Black
international database Minnaloushe (USA) - Zadkiel (USA) (Saint Ballado (CAN)) 19 - JOHN B CONNALLY TURF STAKES, G3, Sam Houston, January 28, 9f 1 Papaw Bodie (USA) 5 b/br c Strong Hope (USA) - Trillion Wing (USA) (In The Wings) 2 Proceed Bee (USA) 6 b g Bernstein (USA) - Procession (USA) (Private Terms (USA)) 3 Little Wagon (USA) 9 b c Langfuhr (CAN) - Quilt (USA) (Twilight Agenda (USA)) 20 - HOLY BULL STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, January 29, 8f 1 Algorithms (USA) 3 b c Bernardini (USA) - Ava Knowsthecode (USA) (Cryptoclearance (USA)) 2 Hansen (USA) 3 gr/ro c Tapit (USA) Stormy Sunday (USA) (Sir Cat (USA)) 3 My Adonis (USA) 3 b c Pleasantly Perfect (USA) - Silent Justice (USA) (Elusive Quality (USA)) 21 - FORWARD GAL STAKES, G2, Gulfstream Park, January 29, 7f 1 Broadway’s Alibi (USA) 3 b/br f Vindication (USA) - Broadway Gold (USA) (Seeking The Gold (USA)) 2 Say A Novena (USA) 3 b f Songandaprayer (USA) - Rabiadella (USA) (Dynaformer (USA)) 3 Sacristy (USA) 3 b/br f Pulpit (USA) Christies Treasure (CAN) (Belong To Me (USA)) 22 - SAM F DAVIS STAKES, G3, Tampa Bay Downs, February 4, 8f 110yds 1 Battle Hardened (USA) 3 ch c Giant’s Causeway (USA) - Jen’s Fashion (USA) (Northern Fashion (USA)) 2 Prospective (USA) 3 b/br c Malibu Moon (USA) - Spirited Away (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 3 Reveron (USA) 3 b/br c Songandaprayer (USA) - Carolina Sunrise (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 23 - ENDEAVOUR STAKES, G3, Tampa Bay Downs, February 4, 8f 110yds 1 Zagora (FR) 5 ch f Green Tune (USA) Zaneton (FR) (Mtoto) 2 Exclusive Love (USA) 5 b f Bernstein (USA) - Magic of Love (GB) (Magic Ring (IRE)) 3 Keertana (USA) 6 b/br f Johar (USA) Motokiks (USA) (Storm Cat (USA))
24 - STRUB STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 4, 9f 1 Ultimate Eagle (USA) 4 b/br c Mizzen Mast (USA) Letithappencaptain (USA) (Captain Bodgit (USA)) 2 Jaycito (USA) 4 b c Victory Gallop (CAN) - Night Edition (CAN) (Ascot Knight (CAN)) 3 Prayer For Relief (USA) 4 b/br c Jump Start (USA) - Sparklin Lil (USA) (Mr Sparkles (USA)) 25 - ROBERT B LEWIS STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 4, 8f 110yds 1 I’ll Have Another (USA) 3 ch c Flower Alley (USA) - Arch’s Gal Edith (USA) (Arch (USA)) 2 Empire Way (USA) 3 b/br c Empire Maker (USA) - Delta Princess (USA) (A P Indy (USA)) 3 Rousing Sermon (USA) 3 ch c Lucky Pulpit (USA) - Rousing Again (USA) (Awesome Again (CAN)) 26 - ARCADIA STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 4, 8f 1 Mr Commons (USA) 4 b c Artie Schiller (USA) - Joustabout (USA) (Apalachee (USA)) 2 Willyconker (IRE) 5 b g Pyrus (USA) Arme Fatale (IRE) (Trempolino (USA)) 3 Massone (USA) 6 ch c Menifee (USA) Stoneleigh’s Hope (USA) (Damascus (USA)) 27 - WITHERS STAKES, G3, Aqueduct, February 4, 8f 110yds 1 Alpha (USA) 3 b c Bernardini (USA) Munnaya (USA) (Nijinsky (CAN)) 2 Speightscity (USA) 3 ch c Speightstown (USA) - My American Girl (USA) (Quiet American (USA)) 3 Tiger Walk (USA) 3 b/br c Tale of The Cat (USA) - Majestic Trail (USA) (Kris S (USA)) 28 - TOBOGGAN STAKES, G3, Aqueduct, February 4, 6f 1 Calibrachoa (USA) 5 b/br c Southern Image (USA) - Fort Lauderdale (USA) (Montbrook (USA)) 2 Diski Dance (USA) 4 b g Songandaprayer (USA) - She Nuit All (USA) (Lost Soldier (USA)) 3 Caixa Eletronica (USA) 7 ch c Arromanches (USA) - Edyta (USA) (Skip Away (USA))
29 - SAN ANTONIO STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 5, 9f
34 - DONN HANDICAP, G1, Gulfstream Park, February 11, 9f
1 Game On Dude (USA) 5 b/br g Awesome Again (CAN) - Worldly Pleasure (USA) (Devil His Due (USA)) 2 Uh Oh Bango (USA) 5 b/br r Top Hit (USA) - French Debutante (USA) (French Deputy (USA)) 3 Victory Pete (USA) 7 b c Five Star Day (USA) - Blabby B (USA) (Tabasco Cat (USA)) 30 - SAN MARCOS STAKES, G2, Santa Anita, February 11, 10f 1 Slim Shadey (GB) 4 b/br g Val Royal (FR) - Vino Veritas (USA) (Chief’s Crown (USA)) 2 Utopian (USA) 5 b/br c Rock Hard Ten (USA) - Storm Alert (USA) (Storm Cat (USA)) 3 Norvsky (USA) 6 b g Vronsky (USA) Fimbrelith (USA) (Flying Paster (USA)) 31 - SUWANNEE RIVER STAKES, G3, Gulfstream Park, February 11, 9f 1 Snow Top Mountain (USA) 5 gr/ro f Najran (USA) - Motokiks (USA) (Storm Cat (USA)) 2 Hit It Rich (USA) 5 gr/ro f Smart Strike (CAN) - Cuando Puede (USA) (Lord At War (ARG)) 3 Gold d’Oro (USA) 6 b f Medaglia d’Oro (USA) - Gold Canyon (USA) (Mr Prospector (USA)) 32 - HUTCHESON STAKES, G2, Gulfstream Park, February 11, 7f 1 Thunder Moccasin (USA) 3 b c A P Warrior (USA) - One Stormy Mama (USA) (Storm Cat (USA)) 2 Il Villano (USA) 3 gr/ro c Pollard’s Vision (USA) - Do The Wekiva (USA) (Wekiva Springs (USA)) 3 Quick Wit (USA) 3 b/br c Sharp Humor (USA) - Thank The Academy (USA) (Royal Academy (USA)) 33 - GULFSTREAM PARK TURF HANDICAP, G1, Gulfstream Park, February 11, 9f 1 Get Stormy (USA) 6 b c Stormy Atlantic (USA) - Foolish Gal (USA) (Kiri’s Clown (USA)) 2 Hollinger (CAN) 5 gr/ro g Black Minnaloushe (USA) - Dynamite Cocktail (USA) (Dynaformer (USA)) 3 Big Blue Kitten (USA) 4 b c Kitten’s Joy (USA) - Spent Gold (USA) (Unaccounted For (USA))
1 Hymn Book (USA) 6 b/br g Arch (USA) - Vespers (USA) (Known Fact (USA)) 2 Mission Impazible (USA) 5 gr/ro c Unbridled’s Song (USA) - La Paz (USA) (Hold Your Peace (USA)) 3 Redeemed (USA) 4 b c Include (USA) Early Mass (USA) (Pleasant Tap (USA))
UAE 35 - ETISALAT AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE ROUND 1, G3, Meydan, January 12, 1600m 1 Musir (AUS) 6 b c Redoute’s Choice (AUS) - Dizzy de Lago (AUS) (Encosta de Lago (AUS)) 2 Master of Hounds (USA) 4 b c Kingmambo (USA) - Silk And Scarlet (GB) (Sadler’s Wells (USA)) 3 Secrecy (GB) 6 b g King’s Best (USA) Wink (GB) (Salse (USA))
Danzig Danehill Razyana REDOUTE’S CHOICE b 96 Canny Lad Shantha’s Choice Dancing Show MUSIR b c 2006 Fairy King Encosta de Lago Shoal Creek DIZZY DE LAGO b 2001 Mill Reef Spring Reel The Dancer
36 - SHADWELL JEBEL ALI STAKES, L, Jebel Ali, January 13, 1800m 1 Treble Jig (USA) 5 b c Gone West (USA) - Light Jig (GB) (Danehill (USA)) 2 Emmrooz (GB) 7 b c Red Ransom (USA) - Nasmatt (GB) (Danehill (USA)) 3 Ibn Al Nafis (USA) 6 ch c Distorted Humor (USA) - Stormy Bear (USA) (Storm Cat (USA))
Raise A Native Mr Prospector Gold Digger GONE WEST b 84 Secretariat Secrettame Tamerett TREBLE JIG b c 2007 Danzig Danehill Razyana LIGHT JIG b 2000 Blushing Groom Nashmeel Donut’s Bunnie
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international database 37 - THE S & M AL NABOODAH CAPE VERDI STAKES, G2, Meydan, January 20, 1600m 1 First City (GB) 6 b f Diktat (GB) - City Maiden (USA) (Carson City (USA)) 2 Mahbooba (AUS) 5 b f Galileo (IRE) Sogha (AUS) (Red Ransom (USA)) 3 Reem (AUS) 5 ch f Galileo (IRE) - Al Afreet (AUS) (Danehill (USA))
Seattle Slew A P Indy Weekend Surprise BERNARDINI b 2003 Quiet American Cara Rafaela Oil Fable GAMILATI b f 2009 Mr Prospector Kingmambo Miesque ILLUSTRIOUS MISS b 2001 Irish Tower Our Wildirish Rose Rose Pink
42 - DUBAL FIREBREAK STAKES, G3, Meydan, February 9, 1600m 1 Sandagiyr (FR) 4 b c Dr Fong (USA) Sanariya (IRE) (Darshaan) 2 Tamaathul (GB) 5 gr g Tiger Hill (IRE) Tahrir (IRE) (Linamix (FR)) 3 African Story (GB) 5 ch c Pivotal (GB) Blixen (USA) (Gone West (USA))
Roberto Kris S Known Fact Warning Slightly Dangerous DIKTAT br 95 Sadler’s Wells Arvola Park Appeal FIRST CITY b f 2006 Mr Prospector Carson City Blushing Promise CITY MAIDEN ch 97 Lead On Time Marble Maiden Lastcomer
38 - DUBAI DUTY FREE AL RASHIDIYA STAKES, G2, Meydan, January 26, 1800m 1 Musir (AUS) 6 b c Redoute’s Choice (AUS) - Dizzy de Lago (AUS) (Encosta de Lago (AUS)) 2 City Style (USA) 6 ch g City Zip (USA) Brattothecore (CAN) (Katahaula County (CAN)) 3 Marcret (ITY) 5 b c Martino Alonso (IRE) - Love Secret (USA) (Secreto (USA))
40 - GULF NEWS AL SHINDAGHA SPRINT, G3, Meydan, February 3, 1200m 1 Hitchens (IRE) 7 b g Acclamation (GB) - Royal Fizz (IRE) (Royal Academy (USA)) 2 Krypton Factor (GB) 4 b/br g Kyllachy (GB) - Cool Question (GB) (Polar Falcon (USA)) 3 Alo Pura (GB) 8 b f Anabaa (USA) Rubies From Burma (USA) (Forty Niner (USA))
Waajib Royal Applause Flying Melody ACCLAMATION b 99 Ahonoora Princess Athena Shopping Wise HITCHENS b g 2005 Nijinsky Royal Academy Crimson Saint ROYAL FIZZ ch 94 Mill Reef Crown Crest Crown Treasure
Sharp Queen DR FONG ch 95 Miswaki Spring Flight Coco La Investment SANDAGIYR b c 2008 Shirley Heights Darshaan Delsy SANARIYA b/br 96 Top Ville Sanamia Santalina
43 - DUBAL AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE 2, G2, Meydan, February 9, 1800m 1 Mendip (USA) 5 b/br c Harlan’s Holiday (USA) - Well Spring (USA) (Coronado’s Quest (USA)) 2 Haatheq (USA) 5 b c Seeking The Gold (USA) - Alshadiyah (USA) (Danzig (USA)) 3 Master of Hounds (USA) 4 b c Kingmambo (USA) - Silk And Scarlet (GB) (Sadler’s Wells (USA))
Storm Cat Harlan Danzig Danehill Razyana REDOUTE’S CHOICE b 96 Canny Lad Shantha’s Choice Dancing Show MUSIR b c 2006 Fairy King Encosta de Lago Shoal Creek DIZZY DE LAGO b 2001 Mill Reef Spring Reel The Dancer
39 - GULF NEWS UAE 1000 GUINEAS, L, Meydan, February 3, 1600m 1 Gamilati (GB) 3 b f Bernardini (USA) Illustrious Miss (USA) (Kingmambo (USA)) 2 Pimpernel (IRE) 3 b f Invincible Spirit (IRE) - Anna Pallida (GB) (Sadler’s Wells (USA)) 3 Alsindi (IRE) 3 b f Acclamation (GB) Needles And Pins (IRE) (Fasliyev (USA))
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41 - DUBAL UAE 2000 GUINEAS, G3, Meydan, February 9, 1600m 1 Kinglet (USA) 3 b/br c Kingmambo (USA) - Karen’s Caper (USA) (War Chant (USA)) 2 Mickdaam (IRE) 3 b c Dubawi (IRE) Ribot’s Guest (IRE) (Be My Guest (USA)) 3 Mehdi (IRE) 3 b c Holy Roman Emperor (IRE) - College Fund Girl (IRE) (Kahyasi)
Raise A Native Mr Prospector Gold Digger KINGMAMBO b 90 Nureyev Miesque Pasadoble KINGLET b/br c 2009 Danzig War Chant Hollywood Wildcat KAREN’S CAPER b 2002 Caerleon Miss Caerleona Miss d’Ouilly
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Country Romance HARLAN’S HOLIDAY b 99 Affirmed Christmas In Aiken Dowager MENDIP b/br c 2007 Forty Niner Coronado’s Quest Laughing Look WELL SPRING b 2001 Baldski Chaposa Springs La Chaposa
WORLDWIDE 44 - Blandford Lodge Railway Handicap, G1, Ellerslie, January 1, 1200m 1 Atomic Force (AUS) 7 b g Danehill Dancer (IRE) - Show Of Force (AUS) (Luskin Star (AUS)) 2 The Hombre (AUS) 6 b g Lucky Owners (NZ) - Atlanta Belle (NZ) (Defensive Play (USA)) 3 Twilight Savings (NZ) 5 ch f Secret Savings (USA) - Ghemashah (AUS)
(Danewin (AUS)) Sire: DANEHILL DANCER. Sire of 135 Stakes winners. In 2012 - ATOMIC FORCE Luskin Star G1. 1st Dam: Show Of Force by Luskin Star. 2 wins in Australia, 2nd Sweet Embrace S G3, 3rd Sires’ Produce S G1. Dam of 5 winners: 1996: SPECIAL FORCES (g Brocco) Winner in Australia. 1997: Cotton Socks (f Grand Lodge) 1998: CYBER FORCE (g Grand Lodge) Winner in Australia. 1999: SIR OCTAVIUS (g Octagonal) 5 wins in Hong Kong. 2000: Countess Zoya (f Flying Spur). Dam of Ali Spur (f More Than Ready: 2 wins in Australia, 3rd The Hutt News Wellesley S LR) 2001: Rojah Show (f Charnwood Forest) unraced. 2003: Make ‘em Tremble (f Lion Hunter) unraced. 2004: Gibraltar Show (f Rock of Gibraltar) ran on the flat in Australia. 2005: ATOMIC FORCE (g Danehill Dancer) 11 wins in Australia, New Zealand, The James Boag Galaxy H G1, Blandford Lodge Railway H G1, Maurice McCarten S LR, Slickpix The Heath 1100 S LR, 2nd Brisbane Race Club Victory S G2, 3rd San Domenico S G3, Mitty’s Ian McEwan Trophy S G3, Starlight S LR. 2006: Pink Pepper (f Reset) ran on the flat in Australia. 2007: DUMUZI (c Dubawi) 2 wins in Australia. 2008: (c Shovhog) 2010: (f Hidden Dragon) 2nd Dam: Reinforce by Bates Motel. unraced. Dam of Show Of Force (f Luskin Star, see above) Broodmare Sire: LUSKIN STAR. Sire of the dams of 49 Stakes winners. In 2012 - ATOMIC FORCE Danehill Dancer G1.
Danzig Danehill Razyana DANEHILL DANCER b 93 Sharpen Up Mira Adonde Lettre d’Amour ATOMIC FORCE b g 2005 Kaoru Star Luskin Star Promising SHOW OF FORCE ch 92 Bates Motel Reinforce Fancy Babe
45 - J & N Berkett Telegraph Handicap, G1, Trentham, January 21, 1200m 1 Guiseppina (NZ) 6 b f Johar (USA) -
international database Battocchi (NZ) (Success Express (USA)) 2 Atomic Force (AUS) 7 b g Danehill Dancer (IRE) - Show Of Force (AUS) (Luskin Star (AUS)) 3 El Chico (NZ) 8 b g Stravinsky (USA) Las Chicas Buenas (NZ) (Classic Fame (USA)) Sire: JOHAR. Sire of 8 Stakes winners. In 2012 - GUISEPPINA Success Express G1. 1st Dam: BATTOCCHI by Success Express. 4 wins in Australia, New Zealand, Ballarat Cup LR, TROA’s Arrowfield Matriarch S LR, 3rd TROA’s Arrowfield Tesio S G3. Dam of 2 winners: 1999: Tully Tocchi (f Woodman) unraced. Broodmare. 2000: La Taverna (g Tale of The Cat) unraced. 2002: WATERFORD’S DREAM (g Carnegie) Winner at 4 in New Zealand. 2004: Bibulous (g Faltaat) unraced. 2006: GUISEPPINA (f Johar) J & N Berkett Telegraph H G1, Chainey’s Panasonic Levin S LR, Fairdale Goodwood Studs Flying H LR. 2008: Micken (g Darci Brahma) 2nd NZ Bloodstock Wellington TB Guineas G2. 2nd Dam: AVANT by Imposing. 5 wins in New Zealand. Dam of BATTOCCHI (f Success Express, see above). Third dam of THE POOKA, Pooka’s Sister. Broodmare Sire: SUCCESS EXPRESS. Sire of the dams of 20 Stakes winners. In 2012 - GUISEPPINA Johar G1.
Mr Prospector Gone West Secrettame JOHAR b 99 Lear Fan Windsharp Yes She’s Sharp GUISEPPINA b f 2006 Hold Your Peace Success Express Au Printemps BATTOCCHI b 93 Imposing Avant Devante
1st Dam: OUR LUCY by Walking Ring. Winner in Australia. Dam of 7 winners: 1997: NUDGE (g The Jogger) 5 wins in Australia, New Zealand. 1998: BANKONHER (f British Banker) Winner in New Zealand. Broodmare. 1999: Lucy Love (f Four Seasons) 3 wins in New Zealand, 2nd Westbury Stud Sunline S G3. 2000: REIGNS AND POORS (f Four Seasons) 2 wins in New Zealand. 2001: Solution (g Bahhare) unraced. 2002: OUR WOODY (g Woodborough) 4 wins in New Zealand. 2004: PENTOUR (g Pentire) 4 wins in New Zealand. 2005: (f Bertolini) 2007: SAY NO MORE (f Pentire) 5 wins in New Zealand, Harcourts Thorndon Mile G1. 2009: (c Duelled) Broodmare Sire: WALKING RING. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winners. In 2012 - SAY NO MORE Pentire G1.
Northern Dancer Be My Guest What A Treat PENTIRE b 92 Mill Reef Gull Nook Bempton SAY NO MORE ch f 2007 Auction Ring Walking Ring Signature Tune OUR LUCY b 89 Five Arrows Lucy Primrose Fast Bridge
47 - Waikato Draught Sprint, G1, Te Rapa, February 11, 1400m 1 Veyron (NZ) 7 ch g Thorn Park (AUS) Over The Limit (NZ) (Centro (NZ)) 2 Mufhasa (NZ) 8 br g Pentire (GB) Sheila Cheval (NZ) (Mi Preferido (USA)) 3 Fazzle (NZ) 6 b f Johar (USA) - Eftee One (NZ) (Volksraad (GB)) Sire: THORN PARK. Sire of 14 Stakes winners. In 2012 - VEYRON Centro G1, OCEAN PARK Zabeel G3.
46 - Harcourts Thorndon Mile, G1, Trentham, January 28, 1600m 1 Say No More (NZ) 5 ch f Pentire (GB) - Our Lucy (AUS) (Walking Ring) 2 Postmans Daughter (NZ) 5 b f Postponed (USA) - Kinjabelle (NZ) (Kinjite (NZ)) 3 Jetset Lad (NZ) 5 b g Elusive City (USA) - Jetset Lass (NZ) (Jetball (AUS)) Sire: PENTIRE. Sire of 40 Stakes winners. In 2012 - SAY NO MORE Walking Ring G1.
1st Dam: OVER THE LIMIT by Centro. Winner in New Zealand. Dam of 4 winners: Mario (g Marju) 3 wins 2001: over jumps in New Zealand, 3rd Skycity Auckland Great Northern Hurdles LR. 2002: ALMUTA WAWHO (f Almutawakel) 2 wins in New Zealand. 2004: ON THE LIMIT (f Star Way) Winner in New Zealand. Broodmare. 2005: VEYRON (g Thorn Park) 11 wins in New Zealand, Waikato Draught Sprint G1, Land Pride Easter H G1, Eagle Technology Gt N’thern
Chall.Stakes G3, 2nd Zabeel Classic G1. 2nd Dam: LIMITLESS by Sir Tristram. 4 wins in Australia Brisbane Cup G1, 2nd Queen Elizabeth S G1. Own sister to RUN FOR COVER. Dam of ZERO LIMIT (c Star Way: Easter Cup LR, Thai Airways International H LR, 2nd Cadbury Victoria St Leger G3, Moet & Chandon Chairman’s H G3, 3rd Quick-Eze S G2), TWINKLING (f Star Way: Phillips Fox Great Northern Foal S LR, DLA Phillips Fox Cornwall H LR, Tip Top Bread Bonecrusher S LR, 2nd DHL Counties Cup G2). Grandam of BOUNDLESS, Nothing Lika Tango, Purrfection, Our Dance. Broodmare Sire: CENTRO. Sire of the dams of 5 Stakes winners. In 2012 VEYRON Thorn Park G1.
Nureyev Spinning World Imperfect Circle THORN PARK ch 99 Bluebird Joy Christmas Spirit VEYRON ch g 2005 Century Centro Ease And Comfort OVER THE LIMIT b 95 Sir Tristram Limitless Coverless
48 - Darci Brahma International Stakes, G1, Te Rapa, February 11, 2000m 1 Shez Sinsational (NZ) 5 b f Ekraar (USA) - Original Sin (NZ) (Shinko King (IRE)) 2 Hold It Harvey (AUS) 8 b g King Cugat (USA) - Daly Charm (AUS) (Best Western (AUS)) 3 Rock ‘n’ Pop (AUS) 4 b c Fastnet Rock (AUS) - Popsy (NZ) (Sir Tristram) Sire: EKRAAR. Sire of 6 Stakes winners. In 2012 - SHEZ SINSATIONAL Shinko King G1. 1st Dam: Original Sin by Shinko King. 2 wins in New Zealand, 2nd Goldstar Soliloquy S LR. Dam of 3 winners: 2005: EYE MIGHT (g Ekraar) 10 wins in Australia. 2006: REPENTING (f Ekraar) Winner in New Zealand. 2007: SHEZ SINSATIONAL (f Ekraar) 6 wins in New Zealand, Zabeel Classic G1, Darci Brahma International S G1, 2nd Channel Seven Queensland Derby G1, Cal Isuzu Lady Norrie S G2, 3rd Treasury Casino Queensland Oaks G1. 2008: Tigerland (c Mr Nancho) unraced. 2010: (f Ekraar) 2nd Dam: HOPE CHEST by Balios. 1 win
in Australia. Own sister to BRUTUS. Dam of SHINNECOCK (g Woodborough: Solstone Wines Wellesley S LR, 2nd Bayer Classic G1), Original Sin (f Shinko King, see above) Broodmare Sire: SHINKO KING. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winners. In 2012 SHEZ SINSATIONAL Ekraar G1.
Roberto Red Ransom Arabia EKRAAR b 97 Raja Baba Sacahuista Nalees Flying Flag SHEZ SINSATIONAL b f 2007 Fairy King Shinko King Rose of Jericho ORIGINAL SIN ch 99 Balios Hope Chest Monde
49 - Sportingbet C F Orr Stakes, G1, Caulfield, February 11, 1400m 1 Black Caviar (AUS) 6 br f Bel Esprit (AUS) - Helsinge (AUS) (Desert Sun (GB)) 2 Southern Speed (AUS) 5 b/br f Southern Image (USA) - Golden Eagle (NZ) (Zabeel (NZ)) 3 Playing God (AUS) 5 br g Blackfriars (AUS) - Dolly Will Do (AUS) (Rubiton (AUS)) Sire: BEL ESPRIT. Sire of 13 Stakes winners. In 2012 - BLACK CAVIAR Desert Sun G1, BEL SPRINTER Snippets LR. 1st Dam: Helsinge by Desert Sun. unraced. Dam of 2 winners: BLACK CAVIAR (f Bel 2006: Esprit) 18 wins in Australia, Sportingbet C F Orr S G1, Coolmore Lightning S G1, Lexus Newmarket H G1, Patinack Victoria Racing Club S G1 (twice), Pulse Pharmacy William Reid S G1, Bundaberg Distilling BTC Cup G1, Darley T J Smith S G1, Schweppes A J Moir S G2 (twice), PFD Food Services Schillaci S G2 (twice), Danehill Rory’s Jester S G2, Essendon Mazda N.Carlyon S.Wootton S G2 (twice), Arrow Training Services W.Crockett Plate LR, Blue Sapphire S LR. 2007: MOSHE (c Bel Esprit) 3 wins in Australia. 2009: (c Casino Prince) 2010: (f Redoute’s Choice) 2011: (c Redoute’s Choice) 2nd Dam: SCANDINAVIA by Snippets. 4 wins in Australia Qantas QTC Cup G2, 2nd AWA Goodwood H G1, Sallinger S G1, 3rd Saab Lightning S G1, Newmarket H G1. Dam of MAGNUS (c Flying Spur: Bisey Workwear Galaxy H G1, 2nd Coolmore Lightning S G1,
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international database Newmarket H G1, Oakleigh Plate G1, 3rd Ultra Tune Oakleigh Plate G1), WILANDER (g Exceed And Excel: PFD Food Services Schillaci S G2)
1st Dam: CHANSON POUR JULIA by
Broodmare Sire: DESERT SUN. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners. In 2012 BLACK CAVIAR Bel Esprit G1.
6 wins in Brazil.
Irish Fighter. 3 wins in Brazil. Dam of 3 winners: 2003: 2004:
GHADEERZINHA (f
Ghadeer) 3 wins in Brazil. 2007:
Nijinsky Royal Academy Crimson Saint BEL ESPRIT b 99 Vain Bespoken Vin d’Amour BLACK CAVIAR br f 2006 Green Desert Desert Sun Solar HELSINGE b 2001 Snippets Scandinavia Song of Norway
IMPIEDOSO (c Trempolino)
Nova Bossa (f Our Emblem)
ran on the flat in Brazil. 2008:
OLD TUNE (f Wild Event) 3
wins in Brazil, GP Henrique Possollo Stud TNT (1000 Gns) G1, Grande Premio Margarida Polak Lara G1, Grande Premio Roger Guedon G3, Classico Ministerio da Agricultura LR, 3rd Grande Premio Joao Cecilio Ferraz 2009:
(f Molengao)
2010:
Doppia Vendetta (f First
American) unraced to date. 2nd Dam: CATS NIGHT by Slap Jack. 1
1 Old Tune (BRZ) 4 b f Wild Event (USA) - Chanson Pour Julia (BRZ) (Irish Fighter (USA)) 2 Huellas De Arena (BRZ) 4 b f Arambare (BRZ) - Ki Mensageira (BRZ) (Mensageiro Alado (BRZ)) 3 Pro Memoria (BRZ) 4 b f Dubai Dust (USA) - Dear Rafaela (BRZ) (Ramirito (BRZ))
win in Brazil. Own sister to Fantasy Flying. Dam of AMERICAN NIGHT (f Mensageiro Alado: Grande Premio Proclamacao da Republica G1), Magny Cours (f Our Emblem: 2nd C. Presidente Joao Tobias de Aguiar LR). Grandam of VERDE-MAR.
Sire: WILD EVENT. Sire of 37 Stakes Broodmare Sire: IRISH FIGHTER. Sire winners. In 2012 - OLD TUNE Irish of the dams of 11 Stakes winners. In Fighter G1, BRUJO DE OLLEROS Roy LR. 2012Page - OLD TUNE Wild Event G1. Project3_Layout 1 12/01/2012 10:21 1
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51 - G. P. Estado de Rio de JaneiroStud TNT, G1, Gavea, February 12, 1600m
Classico Luiz Alves de Almeida LR, 2nd
G1. 50 - GP Henrique Possollo Stud TNT (1000 Gns), G1, Gavea, February 12, 1600m
Icecapade Wild Again Bushel-N-Peck WILD EVENT b 93 Northfields North of Eden Tree of Knowledge OLD TUNE b f 2008 Irish River Irish Fighter Go On Dreaming CHANSON POUR JULIA b 97 Slap Jack Cats Night Celina Igi
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1 Plenty of Kicks (BRZ) 4 b c Crimson Tide (IRE) - Pleni Turbo (BRZ) (Choctaw Ridge (USA)) 2 Villeron (BRZ) 4 b c Public Purse (USA) - Extra News (USA) (Forty Niner (USA)) 3 Super Pereira (BRZ) 4 b c Public Purse (USA) - Oil-Color (BRZ) (Jules (USA)) Sire: CRIMSON TIDE. Sire of 15 Stakes winners. In 2012 - PLENTY OF KICKS Choctaw Ridge G1. 1st Dam: PLENI TURBO by Choctaw Ridge. 3 wins in Brazil, Classico Octavio Dupont LR, 2nd Grande Premio Mariano Procopio G3, 3rd G. P. Henrique Possollo (1000 Guineas) G1. Dam of 4 winners: 2002: Plenty of Earnings (f Nedawi) unraced. Broodmare. 2003: PALAIS DES FESTIVALS (c Crimson Tide) 10 wins in Brazil, Classico Presidente da Republica LR. 2005: PRIME HALL (c Crimson
Tide) 4 wins in Brazil. 2006: POSE IMPERIAL (f Crimson Tide) 3 wins in Brazil. 2007: Palais des Jardins (c Crimson Tide) unraced. 2008: PLENTY OF KICKS (c Crimson Tide) 4 wins in Brazil, Grande Premio Presidente da Republica G1, G. P. Estado de Rio de Janeiro-Stud TNT G1, Grande Premio Jockey Club Brasieiro G1, Classico Julio Capua LR. 2009: Pleine Lune (f Crimson Tide) unraced to date. 2010: Plenitude Maxima (f Nedawi) unraced to date. 2nd Dam: PLENITUD by Karabas. 1 win in Brazil. Dam of PLENI TURBO (f Choctaw Ridge, see above) Broodmare Sire: CHOCTAW RIDGE. Sire of the dams of 21 Stakes winners. In 2012 - PLENTY OF KICKS Crimson Tide G1. The Crimson Tide/Choctaw Ridge cross has produced: PLENTY OF KICKS G1, PALAIS DES FESTIVALS LR, Vesper of Love G3, Fortaleza Digital LR.
Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge CRIMSON TIDE b 94 Darshaan Sharata Shademah PLENTY OF KICKS b c 2008 Mr Prospector Choctaw Ridge Cinegita PLENI TURBO b 95 Karabas Plenitud Irish Girl
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bloodstock backgrounds
Dairy House Stud: Kin Lundberg-Young and Rob Young What are your backgrounds in the industry and how did you become owners of Dairy House Stud?
Kin: I had been breeding and training NH horses in Sweden since 1970 and I still have a mare descended from my first winner in 1974. We found Dairy House Stud while I was working as a vet for a local practice. It was then a training yard and was used for some early scenes in the TV series, Trainer. Rob: When I first met Kin I realised I had about 10 seconds to decide if I was interested in horses! I have always been fascinated by pedigrees and bloodlines, so breeding was always the way for me to go. When Dairy House Stud became available, I was working away from home and I had never been inside the house until we had bought it!
Dairy House stands NH stallions – have you been tempted to stand Flat stallions or do you just prefer N.H? Kin: We have always loved NH racing, but we are always open-minded about standing a Flat stallion. After all Septieme Ciel is a very successful Flat stallion with 27 black-type winners, including two Group 1 winners. He is also an outstanding broodmare sire of five Group 1 winners, including Cirrus Des Aigles Rob: I think that nowadays a successful NH stallion needs to be good and needs to get a share of good Flat horses as well. The days of the specialist NH stallion has gone now that jumps have been made easier and there is more emphasis on speed.
How do you view the current state of the NH market?
Kin: Apart from the top end it is very difficult at present. Rob: We are in the fortunate position of not having huge overheads and because we do a lot of the work ourselves we can match expenditure to income.
Mares and foals at Dairy House Stud in Wiltshire. The yard was used in the TV series, Trainer
them. I would also like to change the balloting system so that a horse that has been balloted out twice in succession should automatically get in the next time. All owners deserve the opportunity to see their horses racing. Rob: More incentives to put and keep mares in training is essential otherwise we are devaluing about half of our production. I would also like to see better prize-money further down the scale. It doesn’t help the sport in the long term to concentrate the money on the top five per cent.
Is the whole NH programme geared too much towards Cheltenham?
Kin: No. Cheltenham provides a great shop window for NH racing. Rob: The Cheltenham Festival is the high spot of the season for many of us. As they said on Irish radio when they were talking about the Breeders’ Cup: “The Breeders’ Cup is a bit like Cheltenham, but without the jumping!”
You have a new stallion for this year. How did you get him?
What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Kin: When buying a mare buy the best you can afford. Rob: I agree. Quantity is no substitute for quality when you are breeding.
Kin: We heard about Prince Flori through bloodstock agent, Richard Venn. I have always liked Lando so the opportunity to buy one of his most successful sons was a chance not to be missed. Rob: When we heard about Prince Flori, we knew there were other people interested in him so we had to act fast. So after agreeing a price, subject to seeing him, we immediately drove across to Germany to view him. We liked what we saw so the deal was completed.
What changes would you make to the NH racing programme?
What qualities do you look for when looking to stand a new stallion?
Kin: I would love to see more opportunities for mares to encourage more trainers to buy
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Kin: I always look for good racing performance together with good
conformation and pedigree. He needs to be a sire that I would want to use myself, even if I didn’t own him. Rob: I believe you must want to use a stallion yourself before considering standing him. Anything else is disrespectful to your clients.
How do you view Racing For Change?
Kin: There is still a lot to change. How are you going to attract the public when Ascot and other racecourses have these antiquated dress codes? Rob: I am not convinced that pop concerts after racing actually attracts more regular racegoers. I get the impression that we need to broaden racehorse ownership to widen its appeal. There has been some progress in this direction, but more needs to be done.
What can be done to encourage more people to watch racing?
Kin: Make more of the horses on TV; they are the real stars of the sport. Talk about pedigrees and breeders not just about betting, and, on the course,- make the entrance fee cheaper and provide better catering. Rob: We need to get people into the habit of going racing – so making it affordable for a family outing would be a good thing.
What has been your biggest achievement in this industry?
Kin: I think breeding my successful mare Ready Token has been my greatest achievement. After 25 years she is still the most successful Swedish-bred racehorse in England winning four of her seven starts and was unbeaten in novice chases her last season. Rob: Establishing a stud with quality stallions at very affordable prices.