Tdn weekend january 2018

JANUARY 2018

SWITZERLAND’S

WHITE

TURF

CHARLOTTE

WEBER: IT’S A NICE LIFE

WHAT A

TEASE!

NEW ZEALAND’s NATURAL BEAUTY

SUSPENDED DISBELIEF AT TEAM TIBERIAN’S

THE LAST WORD

MELBOURNE CUP

FRANKIE DETTORI

WITH

2018

January 5 - 6: L’Ormarins

Queen’s Plate Racing Festival Kenilworth Racecourse Cape Town, South Africa

www.racingnsw.com.au

Slipper Stakes

Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney, Australia www.racingnsw.com.au

March 31: Dubai World

Cup

Meydan Racecourse, Dubai, UAE www.dubaiworldcup.com

April 6 – 27: Keeneland

Spring Meeting Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, Kentucky www.keeneland.com/racing

Championships

Royal Randwick, Sydney, Australia

www.lqp.co.za

March 24: Golden

April 7 & 14: The

May 19: Preakness

Stakes

Pimlico Racecourse, Baltimore, Maryland www.preakness.com

June 9: Belmont

Stakes

Belmont Park, Elmont, New York www.belmontstakes.com

June 19 - 23: Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, England www.ascot.co.uk

October 20: QIPCO

British Champions Day

July 18 - September 3: Del Mar

Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, UK

Summer Meeting

britishchampionsseries.com/qipco-british-champions-day/

Del Mar, California www.dmtc.com

November 2 – 3: Breeders’ Cup

July 31 – August 4: Qatar Goodwood

Festival

Goodwood, Sussex, UK www.goodwood.com/flagship-events/qatar-goodwood-festival/

August 25: Travers

Stakes

Saratoga Racecourse, Saratoga Springs, New York cbarrera@nyrainc.com | www.nyra.com/saratoga

Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky www.breederscup.com

November 6: Melbourne

Cup

Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia www.flemington.com.au

26

IT’S A NICE LIFE Charlotte Weber’s 2017 featured a championshipworthy Breeders’ Cup win from homebred World Approval.

By Michael Adolphson

06

THE WHITE STUFF Racing around the world offers plenty of diverse experiences but there really is nothing quite like the White Turf meeting on the frozen lake at St Moritz.

By Emma Berry

64

COME ON, TIBERIAN! Tiberian is the unlikely result of the pairing of a teaser stallion and an unremarkable mare. But the graded stakes winner took his group of owners on the journey of a lifetime to the 2017 Melbourne Cup.

By Jocelyn Targett

46

TDN

NEW ZEALAND’S NATURAL BEAUTY With a population of around 4.5 million people, New Zealand doesn’t crack the world’s top 100 countries in terms of the number of people who live there. But for racing people and in terms of natural beauty, it’s right up near the top of anyone’s list.

By Susan Archer

WEEKEND JANUARY 2018 \\ ISSUE 022

Sometimes, it seems like the world is shrinking, and the destinations you thought the most exotic are now just a hop, skip and a jump away. That was certainly the case for Emma Berry, who hopped on a flight to Zurich, then onto a train to St. Moritz and found herself on a racetrack in the middle of a frozen lake—if dressed a little too practically to fit in with the locals. For most of us, New Zealand is a bit further, but Susan Archer gives us tips on how to navigate the Karaka Sales and the North Island like a pro. And speaking of the Southern Hemisphere, Jocelyn Targett is just back from the Melbourne Cup, where a teaser-stallion-sired runner gave his ownership group the thrill of a lifetime. On the subject of thrills, Charlotte Weber has some herself lately, capped off with a Breeders’ Cup win. Michael Adolphson talks to her about a life spent in Ocala, and in racing. But the best news of all this month is the return of our very own Chris McGrath, who has just returned to the TDN with his third Journalist of the Year award in hand. He sits Frankie Dettori down for a memorable, and entertaining Last Word. Welcome back, Chris!

Publisher:

THOROUGHBRED DAILY NEWS 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701

88

THE LAST WORD: FRANKIE DETTORI

Sue Finley, Co-Publisher

Cover photo: Emma Berry || Photographers: Sarah Andrew • Emma Berry Breeders’ Cup • Coady • Adam Coglianese • Eclipse Sportswire • Equiphoto Federal Diner • Francesca’s Italian Kitchen • Getty Images • Bronwen Healy Miles Holden • Horsephotos • Lake Wanaka Tourism • L’Ormarins • Millbrook Resort Graeme Murray • Queenstown NZ • Racing Post • John Reardon • Shot Over Jet Jon Siegel • Skyline Tours • Sundeck at Attiga • Swiss Image Andy Mettler Jocelyn Targett • The Big Fig • The Fork and Tap • Tourism New Zealand Unwind Café & Bar • Patty Wolfe

England’s most famous jockey is actually Italian.

Created for

by:

Frankie Dettori on food, family, and Ferraris in this month’s Last Word.

By Chris McGrath

w w w . PM a d vert ising.com

TDN Weekend is published by the Thoroughbred Daily News. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the Thoroughbred Daily News is strictly prohibited.

the white

stuff

TDN

Destinations

By EMMA BERRY

Racing around the world offers plenty of diverse experiences but there really is nothing quite like the White Turf meeting on the frozen lake at St Moritz

R

once

manager Dawn Laidlaw to be my travel-

wrote, “To travel hopefully is a

ling companion for the weekend, we then

better thing than to arrive.” The

bumped into seasoned St Moritz visitors

novelist and travel writer died 13

Mark and Deirdre Johnston with their son

obert

Louis

Stevenson

years before the running of the first White

Angus at the airport.

Turf meeting in St Moritz in 1907, but had

The Johnstons had worked out long ago

he had he lived long enough to pay a visit to

that the train journey of around four hours

the world’s most extraordinary racecourse

would pass much more agreeably with a lit-

he’d almost certainly have had cause to re-

tle liquid refreshment en route and they di-

vise that sentiment.

rected us to the nearest wine shop where

However, the journey to the Engadine Val-

the thoughtful man behind the counter

ley in the Swiss Alps is quite something in

proffered a corkscrew and plastic glasses to

itself. Never mind the routine flight to Zu-

help us on our way.

rich, it’s once you head for the train station

Once out of the Zurich suburbs and hur-

at the airport that the fun begins. As with

tling south to the mountains, the scenery

most things in life, knowledgeable contacts

just gets better and better. We heeded an-

are important and, fortuitously, having

other important Johnston tip to be in one

persuaded Darley’s European nominations

of the panoramic carriages of the brilliant-

ly named Glacier Express after changing

Swiss Pinot Noir, it’s hard to recall having

trains at Chur, with the cleverly designed

arrived anywhere, after what was a fairly

compartments with glass ceilings offering

long journey, in a better frame of mind.

a stunning vista of the Swiss Alps as the

By now, I had fully convinced myself that

train eventually passes the Cresta Run and

Dawn and I were slightly unglamorous ex-

homes in St Moritz.

tras on an incredibly glamorous set for an

Despite having spent most of my life be-

Agatha Christie movie. Being fairly practical

ing a catastrophically bad skier, there’s still

women who spend lots of time outdoors,

nothing quite like snow-clad mountains to

we felt we were appropriately dressed for

make my heart sing and, even without the

the occasion in our ski gear. Unfortunate-

extra encouragement from a rather nice

ly, the wardrobe department seemed to

have issued head-to-toe furs to the rath-

The action takes place across three Sun-

er more important female characters, and

days in February and while it’s undoubtedly

even most of the men and some dogs, so it’s

horseracing, it’s certainly not as we know it.

a safe bet that any appearances we would

The White Turf meeting, featuring a mix of

make in the background would end up on

flat racing, trotting, and the favourite local

the cutting-room floor.

sport of skijoring, is held on Lake St Mori-

To look the part in St Moritz you need

tz, which is frozen solid between December

to be wearing fur of some sort. No self-re-

and May. On the weekend of our visit, the

specting Swiss mountain pooch would be

ice was 62cm deep with a good covering of

seen at White Turf without a coat or a fur

snow, offering perfect conditions for the

wrap, though a rebellious pair of pugs was

weekend’s activities.

spotted in lurid green Puffa jackets.

From our downtown hotel, the Laudinel-

la, it was an easy walk to the lake, which is

concept of being surrounded by pop-up

roughly 1.5km in length. For those not up

champagne bars and grandstands in the

to the walk to the main enclosure alongside

middle of a lake, it’s impossible not to enjoy

the racecourse, horse-drawn carriages are

a sunny day in St Moritz. The racing itself,

deployed to allow visitors to arrive in style.

with its white kickback and vibrant silks

Dawn and I opted for the stoic trudge across

against the snow, is visually spectacular. To

the perfectly flat piste, following family

casual observers, it almost doesn’t matter

groups pulling young children on sledges,

who wins, just sit back and enjoy the show.

many of whom were modelling the latest in

And in between races, there’s the very

mini-fur fashion, naturally.

important business of fur-wrapped peo-

Once you’ve got over the extraordinary

ple-watching to be done.

For those involved in the racing, howev-

as preparing jumpers, often trains his thor-

er, there’s plenty of honour at stake, not

oughbreds in the art of skijoring, in which

to mention decent purses for each sev-

a horse effectively tows a ‘driver’ on skis.

en-race meeting, with the Grosser Preis von

One such convert is the former Andrew

St Moritz on the final Sunday being worth

Balding-trained Investec Derby Trial winner

CHF111,000 ($112,500/£83,500).

Dreamspeed (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}), the pride

The flat racing regularly draws competitors from England, Germany and France,

of St Moritz resident and international racing owner Barbara Keller.

with Christian Von der Recke being an an-

“You can tell quite quickly whether or not

nual visitor to St Moritz. The German train-

horses will take to racing here,” says Von

er doesn’t just stick to the flat and, as well

der Recke, who oversaw the second phase

“

“

You can tell quite quickly whether or not horses will take to racing here

of Dreamspeed’s career and regularly takes

Franco Moro won his seventh ‘King of the

a team of about 10 horses with him to St

Engadine’ title for the driver who compiles

Moritz from his main stable in Cologne.

the most points across the three White Turf

“Some of them don’t like the kickback, but they wear special shoes so they don’t slip

weekends. In St Moritz, there is no greater sporting achievement.

and it’s amazing how quickly the horses ac-

Moro, a former director of St Moritz Ski

cept a skier behind them rather than a rider

School, has put his teaching skills to good

on top.”

use in nurturing the next generation of driv-

In 2015, the then-eight-year-old Dream-

ers for his beloved sport. During our visit,

speed adapted so well to his new discipline

the leading skijorer was Valeria Holinger,

that he ensured that legendary skijorer

who subsequently made history by being

crowned the first Queen of the Engadine.

Moro adds, “The most dangerous part of

“We take [the skijorer drivers] into the

the race is the start. It is important to get

mountains and they have to pass a skiing

out fast and keep straight to the turn. What

test,” Moro explains. “We have to know

you don’t want is for other horses in the

they are very good skiers before they can

race to gallop on your skis.”

have a licence for skijoring.”

There’s only one race for the skijorers per

Surprisingly, the runners for the skijor-

meeting and it’s notable that it’s the race

ing races are loaded into stalls rather than

of the day for which the crowd of around

jumping from a tape start, with the drivers

10,000 deserts the bars and packs the rails

obliged to crouch low to obtain the speedi-

four or five deep to witness Holinger, in her

est start possible.

shocking pink ski suit and helmet, return

triumphant in the slipstream of her partner,

The lengthening shadows cast by sur-

the Peter Schiergen-trained five-year-old

rounding mountains will soon envelop the

Dylan Thomas (Ire) mare Usbekia (Ire).

picture-postcard scene and hasten people

By the time the seven races have been run, the sun may be dipping but there’s still

inside to the warmth of La Baracca for a rowdy dinner.

enough warmth in its rays to stay on for

The only consolation at the end of a superb

some ‘apres-courses’ as the band strikes up

Sunday is that there’s still the return train

and the racegoers retire to deck chairs for a

ride to be savoured the following morning.

bit of oompah with an Aperol Spritz.

If there’s a better way to spend a weekend, it’s yet to be discovered.

Extra safety measures taken following tragic accident

On the weekend following our visit, racing was abandoned at St Moritz after a race in which English jockey George Baker incurred a serious head injury and his mount was fatally injured following a fall in the home straight. In the ensuing months, Baker, who won the 2016 St Leger on Harbour Law (GB), has made steady improvement but, despite being fully mobile, has been forced to retire from race-riding.

An accident investigation found that large differences in temperature had led to cracks forming in the ice which allowed water to rise to the surface, creating hollows on the track. The St Moritz Racing Association has taken steps to ensure that this tragic scenario is not repeated by reducing the hospitality area surrounding the racecourse for the 2018 meeting and it also plans to deploy an infrared drone to detect potential areas where water could rise and cause irregularities in the track surface.

Getting there and other info

Fly to Zurich and you can catch the train to St. Moritz from the airport with a quick change at the main station in central Zurich and another later change at Chur. Each time, the change of trains only required walking from one side of the platform to the other, where the connecting train was already waiting.

As detailed in the feature, the train journey is superb and it’s worth paying a little extra to be in one of the panoramic carriages on the Glacier Express, which is the last leg of the train journey from Chur to St Moritz. You can find details of how to book this leg of the trip by clicking here.

There are taxis readily available at the station when you arrive and many of the hotels in the town have shuttle buses waiting to pick you up from the train. Staying in the downtown area means you have only a short walk to the races.

By MICHAEL ADOLPHSON

R

acing revels in a narrative. It cheers the underdog and subtly rolls its collective eyes at the well-fancied

blue-blood.

Adoring its humble figures and finding

ways to flaw the forthright, the Sport of Kings, crowns and castle balls willingly rides the waves of eternally twisting plot lines, while hoping for Cinderella to earn her way from soot to celebrity.

What happens, though, when a character comes along who is so dynamic in nature that the industry cannot help but cheer for their success, no matter how privileged or plain-spoken they may be? Someone whose energy outweighs any archetype; whose nature overrides the narrative, turning said paradigm upside-down.

Such is the case with Charlotte Weber, whose Live Oak operation — Plantation (stable) and Stud (farm) — is having a remarkable 2017, including a championship-worthy winning performance by homebred World Approval in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile. Decades into the sport, one of the heirs to the Campbell’s Soup dynasty has, much like said product, flourished against the fire; developing a world-class racing operation, enviable broodmare band and state-of-the-art farm that can each hold their own against any on the planet.

As well-rounded in delivery as the red polka dots on her familiar silks, Weber does things her way, but is wise with her counsel. Competitive, clever and candid, she

COMPETITIVE, CANDID AND CLEVER, she has

carefully chosen her advisers.

has carefully chosen her advisors through such filters and understands that while success in racing is elusive, a wise executive mind in the industry examines as much as they execute, if not more. With her Ocala, Florida-based operation competing at the highest level, despite sporting numbers dwarfed by the powerhouses of global racing, Weber is a 50-year force in thoroughbred world, if not an icon.

“I was raised outside Philadelphia and in the late 1960s I bought my first horse,” Weber, 74, said. “I really wanted something to do that would be fun and a way to meet people. Some of my family was into steeplechase horses and I thought that was way too complicated. I figured, let’s take the obstacle out of the equation and that’s how it started long ago. Of course, without having the wonderful legacy of Campbell’s Soup, there would be no horses. What they do have in common, though, is that you have to mind your business and keep your integrity.

“When I was in my 20s, my ex-husband and I were looking for a place to raise a family and he also wanted to raise some cattle, so we went to Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and California before we decided on Ocala,” Weber continued. “Joe O’Farrell originally asked me if I would be interested in Florida and the more time we spent in Ocala, the more we just fell in love with it. The thing that really got us was the weather. It is just a beautiful place to raise horses and has these big, beautiful Live Oak trees.”

A 4,500-acre commercial thoroughbred

training operation and cattle facility, Live Oak has been a beacon in racing for decades.

Whether through the breeding or training, it has reared such banner-bearing standouts as aforementioned World Approval and his fellow Breeders’ Cup Mile-winning half-brother Miesque’s Approval, Eclipse finalist To Honor and Serve, Kentucky Derby runner-up Laser Light, Kentucky Oaks runner-up In the Gold and Grade 1 winners Solar Splendor, Sultry Song, My Typhoon (Ire), Brilliant Speed, High Fly, Zo Impressive and Victory to Victory. Overall, Live Oak boasts in excess of 60 graded stakes victories from more than 30 graded stakes winners.

In 2017, Weber’s warriors include four graded stakes winners: talented lightly-raced

sophomore

Souper

Tapit,

GI

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile third-place finisher Awesome Slew, turf sprinter Holding Gold and four-time GI winner World Approval.

Those four Mark Casse cadets, plus rapidly improving stakes-winning turf sprinter and Mike Trombetta trainee We Deer You have each earned at least six figures this season.

Live Oak has 35 broodmares that beget an average of 25 in training per year, which Weber reports with palpable pride. When “not chasing a sale or a golf ball,” Weber is gladly watching them develop and checking on her mares with a dedicated handson approach that has trickled down to the tune of a 19.2% strike rate since the turn of the century and in excess of 700 victories.

Weber’s red, white and black silks have upped their game this year, to 21.2%, and have hit the board 50% of the time, with earned purses approaching $4.5 million.

Clockwise: World Approval, Miesque’s Approval, Za Approval, Revved Up

“That’s what I’m trying to do: perform at the top level with my horses,” Weber said.

“I would rather have fun with a bowl of cherries instead of with a bushel of whatever. I want to keep the sport in its excellence and that’s very hard to do, but I enjoy trying. It’s hard to compete when you don’t have the numbers, but I think I have a very nice group of horses right now. Obviously, I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m very excited about World Approval, Victory to Victory and a few of our other 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. I’m just looking for a strong season. That would be just wonderful.”

The equine queen of the farm is retired 25-year-old

broodmare

Win

Approval,

a second-generation Live Oak blue hen whose influence is somewhat overlooked nationally because many of her offspring have been geldings. Win Approval has produced four millionaires: Miesque’s Approval (Miesque’s Son), Revved Up (Sultry Song), World Approval (Northern Afleet) and Za Approval (Ghostzapper). Adding to Win Approval’s sheen and speaking again to Weber’s ability to contravene norms with panache, three of said seven-figure earners have been by commercially unpopular stallions, with the exception being Za Approval.

“She’s just a phenomenal mare,” Weber said. “She’s paid off and she’s done all the hard work, really. She’s enjoying herself now in the field with her boys.

“There’s nothing more exciting than getting up in the morning and going to the barn and seeing the horses,” Weber continued. “I love going to the winner’s circle

and then having breakfast on the porch the next morning after a nice win — that’s so exciting for me. It’s also great meeting such nice people along the way and I think it’s made me a better person.”

One of those people has been trainer

Mark Casse, whose far-flung operation has been churning out top performers, competing at a remarkable level and markedly improving Live Oak’s output over the past few years. While Weber still maintains productive relationships with past and current trainers Trombetta, Eddie Plesa, Bill Mott, Graham Motion, Christophe Clement and Tom Albertrani, it is with Florida’s son Casse — a trainer of 14 millionaires — that she appears to have found her optimal union.

“Mark knows how to play the game and do right by people. He runs horses and isn’t afraid to do so,” Weber explained. “We try to place each horse with a trainer who we think fits the program and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but Mark has done very well for us. He and I have sort of grown up together in Ocala, but did not work together until recently. I knew who he was and he knew me and he has gone on and made a name for himself and I couldn’t be more proud. The timing is right with him.

“It’s so exciting for me because he’s so tech-savvy and communicates with emails and in every way possible, which is very important,” she continued. “He knows his stats and records and that helps energize me, to be honest with you. He lets you know everything after the race and what he hon-

estly thinks. We’re in a different time, now, and Mark is very ‘2017’ and he makes it a lot of fun for me.”

World Approval brought the world to its feet on Nov. 4, giving Casse and Weber their biggest win together. Said outstanding effort stamped the nearly white gelding as one of the top turf milers in the world, arguably the best American turf horse in training and followed one-sided victories in two other GI events — the Woodbine Mile and Saratoga’s Fourstardave. The flashy and fierce charge, whose triumph meant more to his connections than meets the eye, now points to the $6-million GI Dubai Turf at Meydan.

“Winning is always special and so is the Breeders’ Cup, but this was a little more special,” Casse said. “My dad was very close with Mrs. Weber and I’m an Ocala boy through and through. Live Oak has been part of Ocala since I can remember and my dad was always hoping to have me train for her one day. For whatever reason it didn’t happen for a while, but it finally did. Unfortunately, it was the latter part of my dad’s life and he passed away a couple years ago and didn’t get to see this win. I wish he could have been there. If you told me when we started that we would win a Breeders’ Cup race together, I would not have believed you, and to do it with a horse like World Approval, whose dam is all Live Oak and may be the best broodmare I’ve ever seen, makes it even more amazing.

“We’re into strategizing and trying to develop horses and so is Mrs. Weber,” Casse continued. “Training horses is like putting

together a puzzle and you have to keep

Coolmores of the world, Weber offers a

changing the pieces until you get the right

unique perspective. Instead of being anes-

picture. World Approval is a perfect exam-

thetized by modernity, she is balanced in

ple of that. I can still remember him break-

her approach; both wise to the folly and

ing his maiden and I called Mrs. Weber im-

wide-eyed to new facets.

mediately and said we were going to have a

“The target is forever moving and the

lot of fun with this horse. He’s at Live Oak

game has obviously changed a lot,” Weber

right now and the day after he arrived he

explained. “It’s no longer the breeders all

was pulling the hotwalker around. We’re

racing their stock and the years of great

excited for next year and hopefully getting

trainers like Paul Mellon and Elliott Burch,

to Dubai.”

who trained mostly privately for one own-

As a stakeholder who has seen the game

er, are gone. When the grass died out, you

move through its many phases and cycles,

either laid your horses off in Aiken (South

while competing toe-to-toe at its apex

Carolina) or somewhere like that or if you

with the Godolphins, Stonestreets and

happened to have a horse who was ready

“

“

When I was in my 20s, my ex-husband and I were looking for a place to raise a family and he also wanted to

RAISE SOME CATTLE.

after a rest, you’d get them ready for Hialeah — less than a handful; not the whole barn. The game has changed so radically over the past 25 years or so, it’s almost impossible to have a plan and stick to it.

“The first real change came in the mid70s when people started going to more sales to pick out yearlings to buy and these commercial breeding operations began popping up,” she continued. “That was a big difference. The numbers of horses sold have gone up and it’s hard to think of a week now when there isn’t a horse sale. Then more people wanted to have a skin in the game and now there are partnerships. It’s still the Sport of Kings, it just isn’t quite the same and there’s definitely more of it.

I also think it’s harder to do well because I don’t think we’re always playing on a level playing field, which can be one of the big disappointments. That’s why I say integrity is so important.”

Weber, moving with the times herself, went to the sales this summer and made her mark. Adding to her roster, she spent $1,275,000 on three yearlings the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in early August. Not surprisingly, two of those acquisitions were fillies to add to her broodmare band down the line, including a half to multiple graded stakes winner Isotherm by To Honor and Serve and a daughter of promising young stallion Strong Mandate who is a half to three stakes winners, including eye-catching New York stakes winner Seymourdini, as well as graded stakes winners Cali Star and Delightful Joy. “I have told people that if they want to

get into racing, join a partnership and learn

images of Buddha that are often the focal

from them,” Weber said. “It’s hard to go it

point of the millions of dollars worth of

alone right now. The price for a horse is way

ancient Chinese art that she collects and

more than what it cost to race a horse and

has on display at New York’s Metropolitan

you have to keep your finger on the pulse

Museum of Art, Weber has a discernible

and know that there are people along the

balance and composure in her discourse.

way who try to take advantage. They’ll do

Perhaps this is why she is such a nonpareil

it in the sales ring and other places, so be

protagonist; one who does not fit racing’s

aware. I don’t want to say the integrity was

measured mold, but whose sheer potency

better years ago, as perhaps the deceitful

of probity has sculpted its own place in the

ones were just more tactful then, but it’s

prose.

complicated with lots of facets and, like I

“It’s a nice life,” Weber concluded. “It has

said, can be a moving target.”

its highs and its lows, but they have been

Accepting that times have changed in the

worth it. If there’s one thing that someone

same breath, she is enlivened by new en-

needs to know, no matter where you’re

thusiasm in a game that has brought her so

coming from, it is that you have to have pa-

much joy over the decades. Much like the

tience.”

With a population of around 4.5 million people, New Zealand doesn’t crack the world’s top 100 countries in terms of the number of people who live there. But for racing people and in terms of natural beauty, it’s right up near the top of anyone’s list. Considering a trip this winter for the Karaka Yearling Sales on New Zealand’s North Island? (It’s summer there!) We’d put this one on your short list, and now that you’ve flown all this way, recommend you stick around after the sales and jet down to the South Island to see all that New Zealand has to offer.

natural b NEW ZEALAND’S

beauty TDN

Destinations

By SUSAN ARCHER

O

kay, you’ve been to

(shoes optional) might lull you into thinking

the stunning Kara-

that Kiwis (= New Zealanders, as well as that

ka Sales Centre and

green fruit with the furry skin) are a bunch of

you’ve bought a cou-

easy-going, unambitious, nice guys happy

ple of yearlings to

to live quietly in their own slice of paradise

race in Australia, so

three hours east of Sydney and a 13-hour

now it’s time to in-

flight from LA Airport.

vestigate one of the world’s most beautiful

Don’t be fooled. Just Google Phar Lap,

and untouched lands: New Zealand.

Tulloch & Sunline for equine examples of

Nau mai, haere mai ki Aotearoa! Greetings

elite Kiwis.

and welcome to the Land of the Long White

From the human species: Lorde – the

Cloud.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwrit-

Swallowed vowels and the laidback vibe

er; Richard Pearse – the pioneering pilot

who flew an aircraft nine months before

a taste of Auckland, taking in the sweeping

the Wright brothers; Edmund Hillary – first

360-degree views from the Sky Tower and

conqueror of the Everest; Sir Peter Jackson

premium seafood and cocktails at Soul Bar

– the true Lord of the Rings; A.J. Hackett –

& Bistro on Viaduct Harbour, catch an Air

who commercialised jumping off bridges,

New Zealand flight south to Queenstown,

and, of course, Russell Crowe, the Academy

on the South Island The airport offers the

Award-winning actor. If further evidence is

welcoming thrill of a landing between

needed, don’t forget our sporting super-

mountains and rivers, a suitably spectacular

stars: the All Blacks and our brilliant Ameri-

introduction to the heart of Central Otago,

ca’s Cup-winning sailing team.

a region located in the lower third of New

And the country is led by 37-year-old Ja-

Zealand’s South Island, which would stretch

cinda Ardern, the third woman among New

from North Carolina to northern Florida if

Zealand’s last five Prime Ministers.

superimposed on the U.S.’s Eastern sea-

After the sale is over, and once you’ve had

board.

Draped around the shores of Lake Wakatipu,

Queenstown is

the vibrant centre of the region.

The Queenstown Lakes District is most fa-

SPF30+ sunscreen because New Zealand’s

mous as a winter destination for skiers and

bright, unfiltered sunlight can burn you

snowboarders, but visitors have now discov-

very quickly.

ered what the locals have known for a long

Draped around the shores of Lake

time – that it’s equally gorgeous and lively

Wakatipu, Queenstown is the vibrant cen-

in the dry heat of the southern New Zealand

tre of the region and the place to be for ac-

summer---which officially starts in Decem-

tive travellers keen to experience as much

ber, but makes its most reliable appearance

as possible in a short time.

in February, straight after the Karaka Sales.

There’s accommodation to suit every

First-up, rent a car; it’s the best way to

taste and budget but if it’s luxury you’re

make the most of your time and get around

after, try The Dairy, two minutes’ walk

without hassle – just remember that, like

from the town centre, for boutique com-

Australians, Kiwis drive on the left-hand

fort and personal service that guests

side of the road. Then buy a big tube of

rave about. Like my American friend who

stayed there recently said: “They had a lovely breakfast every morning and the location was perfect…very easy to get to the main strip. Also, the owners were very helpful in planning any trips in the area.”

A glass of champagne on arrival sets the tone and then it’s another short walk up the hill to the Skyline Gondola ride to the top of the mountain named, with classic Kiwi understatement, Bob’s Peak. The panoramic views of the town and the lake, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, and Walter & Cecil Peak are perfect selfie backdrops.

It’s even better at night when the Skyline Stargazing tour and Central Otago’s clear skies and low levels of light pollution allow an awe-inspiring view of the antipodean night sky, with the Southern Cross visible in the southeast during February.

Head back down the hill to Attiqa’s rooftop sundeck where an Easy Bro cocktail or two, outdoor fires, Mediterranean-inspired tapas and a diverse & diverting crowd will keep you going until the wee, small hours.

If quick revival is required in the morning roll along to the Bespoke Kitchen, where a healthy Breakfast Board (edamame & watercress hummus, poached egg, wakame sea salt on ciabatta, muesli with yoghurt & raspberry smash & a turmeric, cayenne, lemon & honey shot), a cup of Allpress organic coffee and perhaps an indulgent slice of housemade cake will set up the day nicely.

If the thought of leaping off a 109-me-

More excitement required? Add the

tre platform into a 200-metre swing with

Shotover Jet Boat Ride to your itinerary to

a 60-metre vertical free fall down a cliff

top up your adrenaline with a powerhouse

face doesn’t upset your breakfast, then

sprint - and a few full-circle spins - between

the Shotover Canyon Swing is next for

the dramatic rock walls of the river canyons.

you. “Gravity is a toy. Come out and play!”

Otherwise, take a leisurely trip in the vin-

Well, that’s what the ad says. Here’s what

tage steamship TSS Earnslaw across Lake

people say on Trip Advisor: “Scariest but

Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station where a

best experience ever.” “Hate heights but

well-designed and entertaining tour offers

loved this.” “Excellent fun, lovely backdrop,

a glimpse of New Zealand farming life, com-

brilliant crew. What’s not to like? So glad we

plete with sheepdogs and sheep-shearing.

did this.” Go for it, thrill-seeker!

That’s followed by either morning or after-

noon tea, or a delicious Gourmet BBQ Lunch

vours of Blue Kanu or Botswana Butchery’s

at the Colonel’s Homestead, with an expan-

innovative ways with seafood, duck, pork,

sive lake-and-mountains view.

rabbit, lamb and beef.

And somehow, you’ll have to fit in a scenic

For an optional scene-shift, especially for

flight from Queenstown, over the South-

keen golfers, cyclists, walkers and wine-lov-

ern Alps to Milford Sound, one of the most

ers, book in at Millbrook Resort for a cou-

awe-inspiring wild places in the world. Plen-

ple of days. Take your pick of Studio, Suite,

ty of options to choose from - try Glenorchy

Cottage or Fairway Homes accommodation,

Air for the fixed-wing experience, and Over

and settle in for some pampering at The Spa

the Top for helicopter access, with the bo-

or take a turn on a treadmill at the Health

nus of beach and glacier landings.

and Fitness Centre, where the picturesque

Back in Queenstown in time for dinner,

view calms the mind, while the body works!

perhaps the intriguing “Polynasian” fla-

Golf, of course, is readily available, on

three stunning courses clustered around the historic village of Arrowtown, just a 20-minute drive from Queenstown.

Millbrook’s renowned 27-hole course joins The Hills (the exclusive club, course & sculpture park established by Sir Michael Hills) to host the New Zealand Open each March. Set in rolling hills on the eastern side of town, the Arrowtown Golf Course is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s best country courses.

Charming Arrowtown itself is well worth a day-long visit, kicking off with coffee and a traditional cheese roll at Unwind Café & Bar, brunch at the Chop Shop, or one of the Arrowtown Bakery’s Lamb & Mint Pies and browsing the stores on and off Buckingham

Street (don’t miss Blue Moon Rummage and the Jade & Opal Factory).

The legacy of 19th century goldrush fever remains visible in Arrowtown which survived as a rural service centre, then as a local holiday spot and now as a strong small-town community invigorated by a daily influx of visitors from all over the world.

Hire a bike or simply start walking on one of Arrowtown’s many trails to explore the surrounding landscape of forest and river,

mountain and valley. If it’s raining, catch a mid-day movie at Dorothy Browns Cinema, relaxing in the huge, comfy seats of the main theatre or the tiny Lounge.

Pan for gold in the Arrow River and wonder at the humble shelters of the Chinese Miners’ Village, but when the sun finally sets (at around 9 pm in February), it’s time to return to 21st century treasures and abodes.

Behind the Blue Door you’ll find the irresistible shabby chic of a cosy, candlelit bar, with an open fire an excellent selection of wines and cocktails and live music on Wednesday evenings. Dinner awaits at Saffron or Fan-Tan Kitchen & Bar next door, the Fork & Tap, La Rumbla for tapas-style food, or Slow Cuts for meaty deliciousness and smashed potatoes.

Wine is undoubtedly Central Otago’s modern-day gold and almost anything you try

from the region will be good, but its pinot noir is justly famous. Pithy shelf notes help the process of choosing a bottle from the Arrowtown Wine Store, but if all else fails, the expert staff will happily chat about the respective merits of pinots from Gibbston Valley, Bannockburn, Lowburn and Alexandra.

An hour’s drive over the Crown Range takes you to Wanaka for a half-day guided tour with Paddle Wanaka on the pristine waters of the lake, and re-fuelling at Big Fig, Federal Diner or Francesca’s Italian Kitchen.

If that sounds too much like hard work, designate a sober driver and reserve a table for lunch on the outdoor terrace at the Mt Difficulty Cellar Door & Winery Restaurant. Trust me, the hardest part of your afternoon will be leaving!

Make a brief stop on the way home – and you will be feeling right at home by then – at Mt Rosa Wines where your genial host may be wearing gumboots and will serve up a tasting of 7 or 8 smashing wines with local cheeses in the old woolshed.

Not a bad (=an exceptionally good) way to sign off on a sojourn in Central Otago, but one visit is never enough. Fortunately, the Karaka Sales are held every year!

By JOCELYN TARGETT

To be allowed to read this article, you’ll have to follow my instructions to the letter. Sorry, but this won’t work if you browse the photos and the picture captions in the normal way, read the pull-quotes, and generally enjoy yourself flicking and dipping as you might usually do. No, you have to suspend disbelief. Clear your mind. Imagine – horseracing insider though you are – that you know absolutely nothing about the 2017 running of the Melbourne Cup. Make yourself comfortable, as if in the deep plush seats of your favorite cinema. Close your eyes and take as long a breath as you can… the credits are rolling, orchestral chords soaring… the feature is about to begin: it’s Seabiscuit multiplied by National Velvet, a heart-quickening fairy tale about a dark, prancing stallion, with wickedly handsome heroes and glamorous, statuesque beauties, all played by your preferred Hollywood stars. That, at least, is how it appears to me. But then, dear reader, I’m in it…

Scene 1. Exterior.

The camera pans across the skyline of a distant city.

Thin spring sunlight glints off glassy towers. Clouds are parting, revealing speckles and then patches of lovely clean blue. And now the camera turns to the left and downwards on a seething crowd of merrymakers at a racecourse. There are tens of thousands here. Up close, there would be plenty to occupy the retina: the cavorting, the guffawing, the clothes, the lack of clothes – take it all in, with a splash of your bubbly imbibement of choice, and grin. But the drone’s eyeview is high and moves stealthily in the direction of a circle of horses behind the starting gates, homing in on tan-suited TV presenter, microphone in hand, walking in front of the starting stalls.

Cut to close-up. The presenter: ‘The Melbourne Cup. It’s the race that stops a nation. The first Tuesday in November and everyone’s on holiday. Horses from around the globe are loading into the starting gate. There’s millions of dollars at stake: 6.2 million, to be exact. For days, one topic has dominated conversation – every shopkeeper, every Uber driver, the parents at the school gates and the commuters on the trams and trains: who will win the 157th running of this great horserace? Can the Aussies keep the Poms and Irish at bay? Well, let me make things easier for you. The winner will likely come from one of these few barriers.’ He indicates the first half-dozen numbers, those nearest the rail. ‘The winner won’t come from over there’ – he waves at the bigger numbers. We see a jockey in luminous yellow silks enter one of these no-hope stalls. ‘There’s Tiberian, the French challenger going from barrier 23. He won’t win. I can say that with absolute certainty because, in the last 156 years, no horse drawn 23 has ever won.’

The author, daughter Lola and new friends.

Cut. The barriers clatter open. A species more atuned than ours would detect the flood of adrenalin engulfing the brains and bodies of the bystanders in seething torrents – and be horrified. The crowd bellows as one. How do you like to watch a race?

Through a thicket of strangers’ heads on the stands?

Coolly detached, on a weighing-room screen? Down on the lawns with the micro-skirted 20-somethings and their arm-pumping beaux? In this movie, you get to see it every possible way, even from a horse’s back as grass clippings fly and the jockeys jostle and bicker in squeaky-voiced Australian.

The 23 runners stream away. They’ve two miles spiralling round this wide track to run, the sky and faraway cityscape beyond. You’d think, over such a distance, it would be perfectly possible to tack over from a high draw and grab a bit of rail – but, no, you suddenly realise why a big number is so hopeless: everyone’s vying for a forward position, and if you’re drawn wide you either sink to the back and forfeit a head start, or are trapped out for that long you have to run so much further. That’s what the luminous yellow colours are doing. Running further. Tiberian from barrier 23. The French longshot. Literally an outsider.

They pass the stands. Down by the winning post, in that group of young folk, they’ve heard the story of the French stallion and gleefully shout, ‘Come on, Tiberian!’ at the thunderous blur. In the weighing room, the French trainer stares up at the wall-mounted television: he wears a look of mute concern. His horse has no cover and is six or seven off the rail; he is also well towards the back. Up in the rarefied viewing area outside the Committee Room, where a 100 or so in hats and finery sit tightly-squeezed on padded benches, politeness and decorum is just about to give away to a bit of uninhibited yawping: ‘Come on, Tiberian!’ Other horses may have been mentioned, but this story doesn’t have ears for them.

Then, all of sudden and quite perceptibly, Tiberian’s yellow colours start to advance… The pace upfront has steadied as the leaders – far away from the adrenalin-flavoured shouting that’s swamped the grandstand – relax a little on the back stretch. But the yellow jockey has not reined back; his mount’s progress catches everyone’s attention. In the weighing room, on the lawn and out on the Committee’s verandah, hope spills out: Come on Tiberian…

Rounding the home turn, with still well over three furlongs to go, Tiberian has circled the field in a breathtaking move and is now bang there, on the heels of the two leaders. The jockey’s yellow sleeves are motionless; all around him, others are getting as busy as firemen on an old steam train, shovelling coal into the engine, urging their mounts to greater effort. Not Tiberian – he is absolutely cruising!

Now the front two horses are struggling – one of them the British-trained favorite, Marmelo – and quickly relent. Tiberian strikes the front. His supporters up in the stands and down by the winning post are standing and shouting, half-jumping and grabbing at each other. His inscrutable French trainer allows perhaps a half-smile to wriggle across his face. The Cup, the 6.2 million dollar 157th running of the race that stops a nation, is all of a sudden Tiberian’s to lose…

Let’s freeze-frame the action here and catch up with our characters and the plot. Suspended mid-shout high up in the stands and wearing elegant morning coats are the three friends who not only own Tiberian, but who bred him – and they owned and bred both his sire and dam, too. And not one of them has

Team Tiberian: Heiko Volz, Julian Ince, Stefan Falk

‘Highness’ as part of their name. Quite the contrary.

Julian Ince is their ringleader. Picture, if you will, an early-years Robert Redford with wisps of sandy hair: we can afford to be generous – this, after all, is a fairy tale. Jovial only begins to describe Julian: if fun-loving were an Olympic endeavour this Englishman’s grin and humor would be famous around the world. He is, in short (and he is a little short), the best of company: kind, big-hearted, idiotic. As a boy he delivered newspapers around Newmarket, Britain’s horseracing town, including to Lester Piggott, the Twentieth Century’s greatest jockey. That’s all it took: Julian never looked back, and at 16 he graduated to sweeping the office floor of bloodstock agent Cormac McCormack. By the late Nineties, he was managing a stud farm in Normandy, the especially picturesque Haras du Logis. There, one of the clients boarding mares was the second of our three morning-coated air-punchers: Heiko Volz.

Heiko, some eight or nine years Julian’s junior and now in his early-40s, has the sleek good-looks of golden era matinee idol. He and his father Helmut, who has not on this occasion made the trip from their home town of Baden-Baden, have been breeding and racing horses together for many years. Their success has somehow evaded universal acclaim, but they have won many of Europe’s biggest thoroughbred challenges – including its greatest race of all. Where Julian fizzes with excitability, Heiko is calm and astute. He is a spectacularly good gambler and has a great command and instinct for form. I have scarcely ever been to the races with Heiko without watching awestruck as he collects fat post-race wads from tote desk cashiers. Occasionally I’ve been in on one of his punts: they’re Byzantine in their complexity, yet then so rewarding in their execution.

Heiko runs the family furniture store on the outskirts of Baden-Baden. It’s a solidly middle-market affair. His idea of a marketing wheeze is to offer a free sack of potatoes with every kitchen table sold, which tells you at least as much about the people who shop on the outskirts of Baden-Baden as it does about Heiko.

Heiko has already featured in a starring role in a horseracing fairy tale: he’s the man who, in May 2010, bought a two-year-old filly for €9,000 and, the following year, won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – by five lengths in a new record time. Danedream: she started at 20-1 and the story goes that Heiko made almost as much from the bookmakers as he did from selling half of his filly to Teruya Yoshida or from his share of the eye-widening prize fund. After the race, myth has it, Helmut and Heiko popped the trunk on their ten-year-old Mercedes, tipped in many, many thousands in bundled euros, threw in the Arc tro-

The three owner-breeders.

NOT ONE OF THEM HAS HIS HIGHNESS AS PART OF HIS NAME.

phy on this sumptuous bed of readies and promptly drove straight back to the Black Forest.

Next, move your gaze across the paused screen to the third of our mid-cheer trio. Stefan Falk, a childhood friend of Heiko, now in unselfconscious middle-age. Leonardo di Caprio or Matt Damon would have a very enjoyable month or three eating themselves into the role. Stefan is a scintillatingly successful entrepreneur in renewable energy who consults the stars and cards with his own personal retained fortune-teller before embarking on any venture, none of which is ever worth less than €5million. We discuss the problem of how to store energy; he elicits hope that the solution will be conserving heat in stones. Very big stones.

Two decades ago, Stefan and Heiko conducted some sort of business deal together – I don’t think it was worth €5million, and I don’t think it involved po-

Tiberius Caasar at Logis.

tatoes, but it was clinched on condition that Stefan become a partner in a racehorse called Toamasina. If the soothsayer was consulted back then we all need her number because this was one propitious deal.

The Tiberian fairy tale begins with this handshake. A fortune foretold.

Toamasina had speed and talent, winning three times and running second in a one-mile Listed race at four before retiring to stud – Julian’s stud. She proved a little less adept in her second career, producing just one foal in her first four seasons. As hope she might breed a star started to dwindle, so the keep bills began to amass and Julian was cut in for 25% to take the edge off them. Meanwhile, under the glinting shade of the copperbeech avenues at the Haras du Logis, another story had started to unfold…

Heiko and Helmut had an elderly chestnut mare, so tall and long and sway-backed that, if you squinted, you could imagine you were looking a broad undulating landscape, the rolling Tuscan hills for example.

She was, in fact, an absolute queen of a mare: Thekla – look her up. Her second foal was a Champion colt who won the German 2,000 Guineas. Her first filly became the grand-dam of a Champion in France. Another won the German 1,000 Guineas and ran third in the oh-so-chic Prix de Diane at Chantilly in June, 1995.

The next filly bred a G1 winner and is the grand-dam of a German Oaks winner; another bred yet another German Champion. And that, dear reader, is the edited version.

I first met Thekla as a barren 19-year-old. She’d failed to foal for three seasons on the trot, and in her dotage had been sent to one of Julian’s stallions, a fellow sub-fertile pensioner called Zieten, once a zippy son of Danzig who had won the Middle Park

Stakes many moons before. Against all odds, the two old folk clicked and conceived a fine colt, who was given the magnificent name of Tiberius Caesar.

Prepped for the Deauville sales in the last year of the French franc, he was sold for 1.1million of the things.

It was a great day, and an even greater evening: I’d sold my first yearling some 50 lots before – also for pots and pots of francs – and, in celebration, Julian introduced us to his favorite drink, a piscine de provence – literally, a swimming pool of rosé, the flinty pink wine poured over a fist-sized goblet jammed absolutely to the brim with ice. That might also have been the night the four of us, to dispel a momentary indecision, ordered every single dessert on the menu. Paris-Brest, ile flottante, crême brulée, crême caramel, mousse au chocolat, crèpe Suzette, pêche melba, profiterôles au chocolat, tarte aux pommes à la mode, tarte tatin, clafoutis, tarte au citron. And lots of Chantilly. There may have been others. Ah, yes, my waistline remembers it well.

A few years passed. High points for Tiberius Caesar included him winning a one-mile Group 3 race in Bremen by an astounding 11 lengths. But soon, as it will, his formed tailed off, and then, so too did he.

As a seven-year-old he was sold to Sweden where the softer competition was still not soft enough and he was dispatched to the claiming ranks in France where, in 27 more unsuccessful starts stretching until the age of nine, he was bought and sold four or five times eventually descending to a mark of just 20 – equivalent to about 44 on Timeform figures. Not quite Black Beauty pulling the coalman’s dray with poor old Ginger, but not far from it.

TIBERIUS CAESAR’S FEE: A CASE OF PROVENÇAL ROSÉ.

Step forward, our heroes. Robert Redford and Rudolf Valentino.

It was Heiko’s idea: Tiberius Caesar did us such a good turn all those years ago, now we should look after him. ‘Can’t we claim him, Julian, and keep him at Logis? He can be your teaser.’ €12,500 later, the useless claimer who could have been a contender was back in the ownership of his breeders. How apt, you might think, until you know that this new task came with a new rhyming (yet less than poetic) soubriquet: Caesar The Teaser.

Realising, a couple of years into the role, that subjecting a stallion to the unusual rigors of teasing might not have been as charitable a thing to do as they’d thought, Heiko and Julian took further pity on the horse and decided to send him a mare. A mare all of his own. And not just any mare. It had to be a good mare, reasoned Julian, a mare who might breed a good one and bring some redemption on his poor benighted head. Listed-placed Toamasina, barren again, was sent for, and led from her stable to the barn behind the tractor park. There, Tiberius Caesar covered himself in glory.

The resulting foal was, everyone at Logis agreed, the nicest that spring: you can keep your Shamardals and Siyounis, Le Havres and Oasis Dreams, the son of the teaser was the best on the stud – and the talk of the town. Soon nearby folk with a mare needing covering were calling Julian for Tiberius Caesar’s services. A fee was invented: a case of Provençal rosé.

Caesar might not have been run off his feet, but Julian was drinking the ultimate in ill-gotten gains well into the autumn.

Let’s fast-forward a bit. The fleshy second act of this movie definitely needs a scalpel. The handsome colt is sent to be trained on the western coast of France, near the mouth of the Loire, by Alain Couetil – not so much a surname as an indifferent hand in Scrabble – and then there’s very little for the three friends to do for the next couple of years but pay the bills... and wait. That, right there, is the romance of racehorse ownership.

Midway through his three-year-old season, Tiberian, as he’s been called, breaks his maiden – then wins again in a muddy test in the middle of France, the beaten horses all carrying famous colours: Aga Khan green, Wertheimer blue, a flash of Juddmonte pink.

A sterner challenge – and a great day out, always one of the priorities, especially with Julian – is arranged.

Tiberian will run on Arc weekend in the big staying race for three-year-olds, the Group 2 Prix de Chaudenay. The rank outsider, Tiberian slides through late to claim second behind the hot favourite, Vazirabad, a son, curiously, of Manduro, one of the bluer-bloods Caesar The Teaser does the dirty work for at the Haras du Logis. The following year, Couetil tried to make Tiberian into a Champion stayer, the highlight of his summer being a tilt at the Ascot Gold Cup. Julian, whose mother had recently died, wore the tie presented when she received her MBE for services to boys’ football, hoping to be able to share the story with the Queen when she handed over her trophy.

It was not to be, Tiberian finishing down the field, though we did leave Ascot with an unforgettable memento: a team song, debuted in the pre-parade ring to the up-turning of more than a few top-hatted noses. All together now, and to the tune (sometimes only approximately) of Dusty Springfield’s Son Of A Preacher Man…

‘THE ONLY HORSE WHO COULD EVER PLEASE ME WAS THE SON OF A TEASER, MAN Things then get sillier, and more successful. Half of Tiberian is sold to Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock who intend to run him in the Melbourne Cup. (Oh, yes, that... In case you’d forgotten, that’s why we’re here in the first place.) The song gets sung louder and louder after four splendid Listed, Group 3 and Group 2 victories in Paris and Deauville through the spring and summer of 2017 beating the future Breeders’ Cup Turf hero, the flashy Talismanic fair and square both times they met. Onwards to Mel-

Yes he was, was…ooh…’

bourne. Meanwhile, daddy’s popularity has, at the ripe old age of 17, soared. Last spring Tiberius Caesar covered almost 30 mares. These days, he’s got his own teaser. And the fee? 100 bottles of rosé! Boy, does Julian love that drink.

The Melbourne Cup, run on a Tuesday, kicks a good Saturday night almost literally into the middle of next week. For the European traveler – or ‘raider’ as we must be known – it can be tricky knowing whether the worst excesses of bad behaviour are induced by alcohol (Australian rosé, it turns out, is quite passable) or by jetlag’s bottomless well of unending sleeplessness. Whatever, the raucousness included a spectacular performance by the owners and entourage (including Sandra Ince, Iman Volz and my wife Judy Rumbold – they’re the glamorous, statuesque beauties promised in the first paragraph) in the special parade through the centre of Melbourne on the

Monday morning before the race. Draped in the flags of the numerous nations on the team – the French and German tricolors, the Union Jack, the Australian ensign with the Southern Cross – and wearing electric turquiose polo shirts emblazoned to Julian’s design, we frolicked in front of the gathered thousands shouting, ‘When I say Crême, you say Brûlée – Crême (Brûlée), Crême (Brûlée),’ and similar with everything else we could think of in French: Côte (du Rhône), Côte (du Rhône)… Cham (pagne), Cham (pagne)… Thanks to that Long Night of the Desserts, the chanting developed a decidely sweet-tooth.

When I say Tarte, you say Tatin. We might have been the first to attempt to rally the public with the patissier’s craft since Marie Antoinette’s ‘Let them eat cake!’

Onwards and downwards. Despite it all, we brushed up well enough for one of our number to win Best Dressed man at our fancy hotel’s raceday reception.

I won’t mention who. Suffice it to say it wasn’t any of the others. And then the race, and the revelling.

Quite a lot of photos were taken jumping in the air and shouting Up For The Cup. It’s funnier when you’re fuelled entirely by rosé.

Did we win, did we lose? What happened next?

Well, the movie ends with Tiberian striking the front and defying all-comers all the way up the long Flemington stretch, with Julian wearing his mother’s tie while at last cradling a golden trophy, with Heiko making a surreptitious visit to a bookmaker’s till, with Stefan leading one more chorus of Son Of A Teaser, Man (oh, yes: now with its own Gangnamstyle dance), with the toothiest of grins hanging like bunting across Alain Couetil’s face... As I was saying, suspend disbelief. Come on, Tiberian!

The Last WORD:

By CHRIS MCGRATH

England’s most famous jockey is actually Italian. Frankie Dettori talks to Chris McGrath about food, Ferraris, and football.

TDN: You’ve lived more than half your life in England, and your children are halfEnglish. In thinking about your identity today, how Italian do you still feel?

FD: I feel more Italian in England than in Italy, because here I feel like I represent my country. I do dream in English. But when I go back to Italy it only takes me one day and I start thinking in Italian. When Italy plays England at football, I support Italy; and even if Juventus played Arsenal, the team I have followed so closely since I came here, I would still support Juventus.

TDN: So what are the things you miss most about Italian life, and what do you think is better in England?

FD: I miss the weather a lot. We get four real seasons. Here we get nothing really, a couple of months of summer but it gets cold again so quick. But I like the quickness of the English lifestyle. In Italy everything is a lot slower, everything revolves around eating. In fairness, that’s all great - but my mind is set a different way now. Here it’s nine-to-five, flat out. When I go to Italy now, I get bored after a week or so. I miss the… [snaps fingers]. I’m that kind of person, I can’t sit still. I need something to entertain my mind. I guess my life has been 300 mph from day one, and I’ve got used to that rhythm. So after a week in Italy I start climbing the walls! That’s what I enjoy about England: the pace, the excitement, the buzz.

“300 mph from My life has been

day one, and I’ve got

“

used to that rhythm.

TDN: Tell us one place off the beaten track in your homeland that deserves a holiday.

FD: Where my parents come from, in the south of Sardinia. It’s like chalk and cheese, compared to the north of the island. Obviously if you want to see the footballers and the big yachts you go to the Costa Smerelda. But the south is a quarter of the price, you might not get the same kind of hotels but the sea is much better and the whole area is beautiful, fantastic.

TDN: You love skiing too, don’t you?

Do you have to rein yourself in, with the risk of getting injured in mind?

FD: I go to Cervinia, that’s another place you should go. It’s guaranteed snow, you can ski in July if you want; and you can ski to Zermatt. It’s just two hours from Milan, so I get to see my mum who’s just north of there, in Varese; my kids can practise their Italian; the food is second-to-none; and it’s much cheaper than Zermatt.

So it’s five birds with one stone. I’ve skied since I was a kid, I can get from A to B no problem, but I don’t take any silly risks. I ski from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., then stop for a big bowl of pasta, a couple of glasses of wine,

a grappa with the locals, then ski down and that’s me done. But I’m not going this year – I’ve got the two best horses in the world to ride, and I don’t want to tempt fate. I don’t want some idiot crashing into me and being out for three months.

TDN: You like cars as well, though.

Is there a bit of a need for speed with these hobbies?

FD: Not as much as before. Obviously it was engrained in me, as an Italian kid, to love Ferraris. My big dream was to get one when I was 30. But after the plane crash, aged 29 and a half, I said: ‘Screw that, I’m going to get a Ferrari as soon as I get out of hospital.’ And I did. Wasn’t going to wait until I was 30! I think I’ve had four or five by now, but the one I have at the moment I hardly use.

It’s more something you do when you’re younger. It’s nice sometimes to go for a drive, but it’s a hassle. It’s an event. It’s not like you jump into the car and go to the shops. I’m not saying I’ve grown out of it, but I have less need than I did.

TDN: But that’s still typical of you, isn’t it – not to view a car simply a means of getting from one place to another.

You always wanted to combine style with substance as a rider, too. Is that important to you, not just to get the job but to get it done with a bit of flair?

FD: I think maybe that’s something that’s been set in my mind from the earliest days. From my parents, from the way we live in Italy. It’s a kind of unwritten code of conduct, as you go through life, in a way you don’t have in England. It’s something set in stone, from a young age. I don’t go out of my way to be stylish, I think it’s just part of what I have set inside me. My dad was obviously instrumental in my career and was always keen for me to have a stylish base; after that, he said the strength and experience would come with time.

So even when I was still weak as water, I tried to start off with the style, and let the rest develop around that.

One day I was beaten a short head at Thirsk and I remember coming in at the back of the [jockeys’] room watching the replay. I was just flapping around like some monkey on a horse and the other jockeys were saying: ‘Look at the state of that one in second!’ And that was me.

So I thought: ‘My dad’s right. If I’d got beat but looked stylish, nobody would have said a word.’

“

I don’t go out of my way to be stylish;

I think it’s just part of what I have set inside me.

“

TDN: Arsenal are famous for playing with style, even if they don’t always have substance! How did your passion for the team start?

FD:

When I started following Ar-

senal, in the late Eighties, we were the best team. [Fellow jockey at the time] Willie Ryan was massive friends with a lot of the team, and Liam Brady was my hero from his days with Juventus, I knew Paul Merson, I used to go to the players’ lounge, I knew everyone. All English.

Then Arsene Wenger came in as manager, and suddenly they were all French, and they stopped drinking!

Nobody went to the players’ lounge any more. But by that stage I was stuck with them…

TDN: Even though you clearly know how to enjoy yourself, you have managed to keep your weight stable through a long career. Joseph O’Brien gained two stone when he retired. Will that happen to you?

FD: I don’t think so. After a month without riding this winter I only put on 4lbs. I’m quite an active person.

TDN: But as an Italian you do love good food. Doesn’t that make it difficult?

But look, my natural weight is probably 9st 7lbs. I might get to 10st.

FD: I do, yes – but good food tends

You just have to look around, jock-

to be quite good for your weight. It’s

eys nowadays are taller and skinni-

the rubbish that’s bad for you. Every

er, they’re not like in my generation,

dietician will tell you to have a Medi-

small and stocky. But there has been

terranean diet.

a lot of progress that way. When I started the minimum weight was 7st 7lbs, now it’s 8st; fillies carried 8st and colts 8st 9lbs, now it’s 9st and 9st 5lbs. But managing my weight

TDN: You enjoy cooking? Give us a dish

has just been about using common

to try.

sense, and these days we have help from the Jockeys’ Association, we

FD:

have nutritionists, we know not to

chicken, cooked in quite a plain,

have pints and chips any more.

straightforward way. My wife does

Yes. I generally eat fish and

the chicken but I usually cook the fish myself, maybe just wrapped in silver foil. Obviously we have a lot of seafood in Sardinia, everything on the grill. I like eel. It’s hard to find.

In red sauce, put a stick through, so it’s the shape of an S, and onto the barbecue. Beautiful.

TDN: Looking back, what advice would the Frankie of 2018 give if he could put a hand on the shoulder of the Frankie of 1988?

FD: Not much. I’ve led a very colourful life, I’ve enjoyed it. I’m not finished yet. But you know what? I was never a person who was going to be easily satisfied. I always wanted to push the boundaries, to challenge, to seek experiences. I’m very much a person who thinks outside the box.

I’m not afraid of trying things. That’s what keeps me ticking, there’s always something more, another adventure.

TDN: But if the jockey who flapped like a monkey at Thirsk had never improved, what might life have held for him?

FD: I really don’t know. When I look

dren I feel the most important thing

back, I never wanted to be who I am

is that they find something they are

right now. My life snowballed out of

going to enjoy, the way I did. We’re

control. I was happy to be a journey-

not going to pigeon-hole them, they

man jockey, riding my 50 winners; I

should try a few things and find

would have been happy with that.

what they like. Rocco, the little one,

But it snowballed, I became addict-

he’s interested in racing, he enjoys

ed to it, and now I am what I am. But

the Shetland ponies. But I’m not

when I was 14 or 15 I never had those

going to push him, he’s only 13 [in

kind of ambitions. With my own chil-

January].

TDN: And finally: give us three things you believe in.

FD: God, definitely – don’t ask me why, maybe it’s being brainwashed in the Italian way; but I don’t need to go to church every day to be a believer. Positive thinking: even if sometimes I get depressed, I try to have a positive outlook. And enjoying life; family comes with that, of course. I never see myself as a dad.

I treat the children as my pals, we have a right laugh together. I’m very affectionate, I kiss them and cuddle them and they hate it. But being a dad sounds old and strict. And that’s not me.

Frankie with his son, Leo

TDN

WEEKEND JANUARY 2018 \\ ISSUE 022