Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder

Mar_127_CoverV2_Layout 1 20/02/2015 16:57 Page 1

£4.95 | March 2015 | Issue 127

Incorporating

The final furlong Festival farewell for soon-to-retire legend AP McCoy

Plus • Oliver Sherwood out for Gold Cup glory with Many Clouds • How to find a Cheltenham horse: leading buyers reveal all • Peter and Tom Scudamore on why family is all-important

03

9 771745 435006

www.ownerbreeder.co.uk

31415_Zoffany_TBOB_DPS_Mar15_30282_RVW_SSB_TBOB_DPS_Sep14 13/02/2015 17:20 Page 1

❝We've got five Zoffanys here and like himself they're

very good-moving horses. They've done everything right so far and I'm particularly looking forward to the colts out of American Queen and Miss Childrey.

❞

Aidan O’Brien

My Zoffany colt ex Maureenda is a really gorgeous horse, has a ❝ great temperament and is a good hardy sort. He's doing everything right and is one of the ones we really like in the yard. ❞ Richard Fahey

❝I've a lovely quality colt by Zoffany out of Poinsettia.

I couldn't be happier with him. He looks to be an early 2yo type.❞ Dermot Weld Zoffany was a very sharp 2yo - his turn of foot was electric ❝ when I rode him to win the Phoenix Stakes. He's a very exciting sire, he's definitely stamping his stock. I have four by him and they are all sharp, early types.

Johnny Murtagh

❞

❝ I am very pleased with the Zoffany/Attalea colt, he's one

of the most straightforward 2yo's we have here. He is very Marco Botti likeable and is a great mover.❞

• ALFRED NOBEL • AUSTRALIA • CAMELOT • CANFORD CLIFFS • EXCELEBRATION • FASTNET ROCK • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • HENRYTHENAVIGATOR • • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR • KINGSBARNS • MASTERCRAFTSMAN • MOST IMPROVED • NO NAY NEVER • POUR MOI • POWER • REQUINTO • RIP VAN WINKLE • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • • RULER OF THE WORLD • SO YOU THINK • THEWAYYOUARE • WAR COMMAND • ZOFFANY •

31415_Zoffany_TBOB_DPS_Mar15_30282_RVW_SSB_TBOB_DPS_Sep14 13/02/2015 17:21 Page 2

Fee: €12,500 (Stg. £9,250) Contact: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: 353-52-6131382. Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars or Jason Walsh. Tom Gaffney, David Magnier, Joe Hernon, Cathal Murphy or Jim Carey: 353-25-31966/31689. Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) 44-7827-795156.

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

Mar_127_Editors2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:59 Page 3

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

EDWARD ROSENTHAL

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

Incorporating

The final furlong Festival farewell for soon-to-retire legend AP McCoy

Plus • Oliver Sherwood out for Gold Cup glory with Many Clouds • How to find a Cheltenham horse: leading buyers reveal all • Peter and Tom Scudamore on why family is all-important

03

9 771745 435006

www.ownerbreeder.co.uk

Cover: AP McCoy rides his 200th winner of the season on Mr Mole at Newbury Photo: George Selwyn

Follow us on... @OwnerBreeder

s if the Cheltenham Festival required an extra injection of drama, we now have the storyline of AP McCoy’s final appearance at Prestbury Park before he rides off, via Aintree, into retirement. Surely millions will be tuning in to Channel 4 Racing to see how the script ends.

McCoy, numerically at least, is the best jockey that National Hunt racing has ever seen. It’s hard to believe anyone will ever get near his mammoth tally that stands at over 4,300 winners. At the age of 40, and in sight of his 20th jockeys’ title, McCoy has decided the time is right to hang up his saddle.

Selecting a handful of photographs to document the career of someone so successful and associated with any number of brilliant horses over two decades is a difficult task. This month’s Big Picture Special (pages 19-29), dedicated to the jockey, features some defining images, all captured by George Selwyn.

Everyone will have their own favourite memories of McCoy in action and, while it may seem strange to pick a horse that didn’t win, his ride on Denman in the 2010 Gold Cup is one that sticks out in my mind.

Denman had jumped poorly on his previous outing at Newbury when unseating McCoy, who was riding ‘The Tank’ for the first time. There had been some discussion in racing circles that he wasn’t the right partner for the dual Hennessy and Gold Cup winner, whose previous big wins had come under Ruby Walsh and Sam Thomas.

At Cheltenham, McCoy produced a ride that, for me, encapsulated everything he is about: aggression, strength, fearlessness and determination. Always prominent in the race, he fired Denman into the final five fences, as if their Newbury nightmare had never happened, and although they came up short against Imperial Commander, it was a terrific performance by horse and jockey.

Of course, alongside the moments of triumph and euphoria, the Gold Cups, Grand National and festival winners, there have been dark days, tragedies that recall the names of Gloria Victis, Valiramix and Synchronised.

The mental strength needed to overcome these setbacks must be phenomenal and cannot be underestimated.

The question now is who will succeed McCoy, both as owner JP McManus’s retained rider and in the jockeys’ table. No-one would begrudge Richard Johnson his first championship after chasing McCoy in vain for so many years but there will be a host of rivals now thinking they are in with a realistic chance.

One man who could emerge as a contender is McCoy’s replacement at the Pipe stable, Tom Scudamore. He has broken the 100-winner barrier for two seasons running and would love to emulate his dad, Peter, the eight-time champion who recorded seven successive titles between 1985 and 1992.

In this month’s Big Interview (pages 58-62), father and son talk to Julian Muscat about life in the saddle, how their relationship has changed over the years and why they have been inspired to succeed by their family background.

Those who believe that riding the most winners doesn’t necessarily make you the greatest jockey will find support in Peter Scudamore’s assessment of his son’s career.

“It was a big thrill to see Tom ride 100 winners in a season for the first time,” he says. “I started riding at a time when 70 winners would make you champion jockey, but to ride 100 winners is still a big milestone. It shows you are up there with the best.

“People want the next in line to be even better than the one before, and while Tom is probably a better jockey than I was, I won all those titles.”

Tom Scudamore may have to wait another year to try and win the Gold Cup – one of the few races that eluded his father – although exciting novice Kings Palace could be that horse in 2016.

One man who does look to have an outstanding chance in this year’s blue riband is Oliver Sherwood. He tells Tim Richards (Talking To, pages 46-50) about his big hope Many Clouds and looks back over some of his previous 1,000 winners.

“That performance

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

£4.95 | March 2015 | Issue 127

So long, AP: it’s been an emotional, thrilling ride A

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

summed him up – aggression, strength, fearlessness and determination

”

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Mar_127_Contents_Contents 20/02/2015 16:42 Page 4

CONTENTS MARCH 2015

46

37 NEWS & VIEWS 7

ROA Leader

FEATURES 19

Newmarket due plenty of credit

9 10

Changes Your news in a nutshell

32

Tony Morris Pattern of common sense

34

Howard Wright Bookmaker data falls short

INTERNATIONAL SCENE 37

View From Ireland Sandra Hughes in the spotlight

40

Continental Tales Channel Islands’ appeal

43

Around The Globe Bad times at Aqueduct and in Australia

4

Talking To Trainer Oliver Sherwood

News New Future Champions festival

14

46 53

Ireland’s Owners Profile on the leading players

58

The Big Interview With Peter and Tom Scudamore

Top Jumps Prospects How to buy the best

72

Sales Circuit Europe and South Africa reports

AP McCoy’s finest moments

TBA Leader More mares’ races vital

COVER STORY The Big Picture Special

64

80

Caulfield Files American sires to note

101 Dr Statz Broodmare competition fierce

104 24 Hours With...

Cheltenham’s Simon Claisse French-bred Un De Sceaux is hot favourite to win the Arkle Trophy at the Festival

Mar_127_Contents_Contents 20/02/2015 16:42 Page 5 B

4:53 pm

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

104

Yearlings unsoundness of wind Horses at grass

FORUM 82

ROA Forum Free fixtures in France and Ireland

88

Racecourse League Tables How the UK’s tracks compare

90

LEADING THE FIELD IN BLOODSTOCK INSURANCE

TBA Forum Stallion Parade triumph at Tattersalls

96

Breeder of the Month Bob and Shirley Carter, for Bitofapuzzle

97

Next Generation Club Patrick Diamond going global

98

Vet Forum Breeding season diseases: vigilance is key

TO STAY AHEAD OF THE FIELD CONTACT US

DATA BOOK 102 Graded Races National Hunt results

TODAY

103 Stallion Statistics Theatre is King

Our monthly circulation is certified at

9,340

Can other magazines prove theirs?

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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

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Mar_127_ROA_Leader_Layout 1 20/02/2015 15:16 Page 7

ROA LEADER

RACHEL HOOD President Racehorse Owners Association

Newmarket rewarded for seeing the bigger picture Future Champions festival a fillip to track that gave up one of its biggest races

U

ntil the recent announcement of the fantastic £2 million-plus Dubai Future Champions festival, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for those in charge of Newmarket racecourse and particularly its hard-working Managing Director, Amy Starkey.

The press hostility towards the Friday fixture on which the Dewhurst and Middle Park Stakes took place may have been justified in terms of the event’s unpopularity, but we should at least acknowledge why it was that Newmarket was driven to put on this fixture in the first place.

Altruism is often in short supply in professional sport and horseracing is no exception. It is why we should be grateful that Jockey Club Racecourses, our biggest racecourse owner, is motivated as much by wanting to do the best for the sport of horseracing as it is by financial imperatives.

As Newmarket’s owner, JCR must have had to swallow hard when the concept of a British Champions Day was raised five years ago. Yet, far from showing signs of reticence, they were among the principal drivers.

They recognised that Ascot was the obvious venue at which to hold such an event, even if it did mean the whole structure of Group racing at the end of the season had to change. Few would surely now deny that the £4m QIPCO Champions Day extravaganza has been a success but a lot of sacrifices were made to accommodate it.

The biggest loser was Newmarket which, for the greater good, gave up one of its major days of the year which included the Champion Stakes. It wasn’t a perfect solution because the well-drained ground of Newmarket is much better able to withstand wet autumnal weather than Ascot. That said, Ascot, with all its grandeur, is really the only place to show off British racing’s finest, even though this fixture still cries out for an earlier slot.

The change to the autumn pattern left the question of what to do with Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes and Middle Park Stakes, both traditional autumn Group 1

events for two-year-olds. And so the idea of a juvenile championship fixture on the Friday before British Champions Day came about. But without buy-in from the racing public and the horsemen, to say nothing of the widespread disdain from the press, the fixture would always struggle to establish itself.

Fast forward four months and Newmarket’s world has undergone a very happy transformation. A change in distance to a top French juvenile race allowed the European Pattern Committee to give their blessing for the Dewhurst to sit in a new spot.

So, now, not only do we have a two-day festival meeting on the Rowley Mile at the beginning of October with fantastic prize-money. We also have the Dewhurst being run in front of a big Saturday crowd again with even the staunch traditionalists perhaps gaining some comfort from seeing a field of blue-blooded two-year-olds on the same day as the Cesarewitch’s cavalry charge for handicap stayers.

With the Friday fixture featuring a £500,000 fillies’ race over a mile and the Middle Park Stakes moved, sensibly, to an earlier slot in late September, we should now perhaps start looking for superlatives to lavish upon Amy Starkey and her team.

But Amy is not the sort of person to rest on her laurels.

She knows there is still much to do at Newmarket’s two racecourses, even though capital expenditure is far from free-flowing with JCR’s huge commitment to the rebuilding of Cheltenham weighing heavily on the group.

Innovation is not always linked to increasing budgets, however, and we hope, by the time we get to the Dubai Future Champions festival, there will be some significant improvements made to owners’ facilities.

That aside, this development has given the famous old Rowley Mile racecourse the most enormous boost and provided some solace to those of us who will never let up in the fight to preserve Newmarket’s special place at the heart of horseracing.

“Champions Day has

been a success – Ascot is really the only place to show off British racing’s finest

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

”

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Mar_127_TBA_Leader_TBA 20/02/2015 15:03 Page 9

TBA LEADER

RICHARD LANCASTER Chairman Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

Looking to Cheltenham to increase mares’ races Novices’ hurdle would create a natural progression to OLBG Mares’ Hurdle

N

ot long now and the flag will be raised to start the biggest four days in British jump racing. People talk about the Road to Cheltenham from a racing angle, but it also applies to breeders, and runs from the TBA Stallion Parade at the Open meeting right through to the Festival itself.

The journey generally takes longer than one season, but it’s still a Road to Cheltenham, ending at a championship meeting that brings everybody together, from the top yards to those preparing horses for the Foxhunter Chase, from the highest class to the more aspirational.

And it’s a meeting where mares have their rightful place, and, I hope, will soon have a slightly more prominent place if the Cheltenham executive adds an extra event on the Thursday to create a balance of seven races each day.

The TBA’s National Hunt Committee, which happens to be chaired by the Cheltenham Chairman Robert Waley-Cohen, has been campaigning for another mares’ race for some time, and we would like it to be a second hurdle, a championship novices’ event to match the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. That way there would be a natural career progression to the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, which I’m delighted to see has had its prize-money increased from £85,000 to £100,000 and been raised to Group 1 status.

This is a tremendous incentive for breeders and owners of mares, but at the moment the race stands alone, which is why we believe it’s important to add another Festival opportunity. We’re not closed to the idea of a mares’ chase, which has also been suggested, but at this stage we feel it would be better to introduce a novices’ hurdle as a platform to the bigger race the following year.

There are a number of good black-type mares’ chases in Ireland, but not in Britain, where we have only the TBAEBF mares’ novices’ chase series, with a Listed final. In fact, staging a top-class mares’ chase in isolation might fly in the face of what breeders require, since a jumping mare who’s proven with black type over hurdles is more likely to be

off to the paddocks by the age of six or seven than automatically being kept in training to go chasing. That situation may change over time, and the perfect Festival scenario would be two hurdles and a chase for mares, but we have to take things one step at a time.

Introducing a mares’ novices’ hurdle would be the start of the journey, and we may have to be prepared for the race not to reach the maximum field of 22 runners in its first year, simply because of immediate availability. But we are confident it would happen, because already it’s noticeable that the top stables have all got mares in their yards, whereas they didn’t a few years ago. In the meantime, mares’ race may have to be ring-fenced against abandonment under the BHA’s small-fields regulations, in order for more mares to be proven on the racecourse.

In this context, it’s worth repeating one of the major points in the economic study commissioned by the TBA last year, which highlighted the fact that 40% of the levy, one of the prime funders of British racing, comes through National Hunt.

Cheltenham is the pinnacle, and not just for owner/breeders.

The market is equally important, which, of course, benefits commercial breeders. And as far as mares at the Festival are concerned, there’s now a reason to buy jump-bred fillies, which wasn’t there before the David Nicholson race – now the OLBG – was introduced. Overall we now have 22 black-type opportunities for mares, which the TBA has been behind, putting in our own money, supported by the BHA. It’s a very different situation from ten years ago.

On the subject of aspirations, the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff awards featured three excellent candidates on the short list for the stud category – Dale Clements of Cheveley Park Stud, Jessica Fortt of Dunraven Stud and Ron Lott of Shadwell. The overall competition seemed to be even stronger than in previous years, and as well as thanking Godolphin for its continued support, a pat on the back must go to those stud owners and managers who nominated their staff for such a worthy award.

“The perfect Festival

scenario would be two hurdles and a chase for mares but we must take things one step at a time

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

”

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Mar_127_News_Owner 20/02/2015 16:37 Page 10

NEWS Stories from the racing world

Future Champions card gets makeover Newmarket fixture revamped and £2m-plus in prize-money now up for grabs

GEORGE SELWYN

N

ewmarket has unveiled details of a £2 million-plus Dubai Future Champions meeting this October, the centrepieces of which will be the Fillies’ Mile on the Friday (October 9) and Dewhurst on the Saturday.

Both Group 1 races will be worth £500,000 – so sharing billing as the most valuable juvenile contests in Europe – with the Fillies’ Mile boosted by a whopping £300,000 against last year, and the Dewhurst up £100,000.

It had already been announced that the Middle Park and Dewhurst, much to the delight of horsemen, would again be run on different days. Connections now have the option of running a juvenile in both, which was possible before controversial changes to the Pattern came in with the creation of Champions’ Day at Ascot in 2010.

The upping of the distance of the Prix JeanLuc Lagardere, to a mile from seven furlongs, paved the way for the seven-furlong Dewhurst to be moved. This year the Dewhurst had been held 24 hours before

Together Forever wins last year’s Fillies’ Mile, which in 2015 will be worth £500,000

Ascot’s big day, as part of Future Champions’ Day, but it was widely felt that Britain’s Champions Weekend had proved a dud.

Racehorse Owners Association President Rachel Hood said: “Racehorse owners will be delighted with this exciting development and we are particularly grateful to Dubai for their valuable input and investment.

“Newmarket is to be commended on the work they have put into creating this autumn programme. The prize-money fund for the

Dubai Future Champions Festival is most welcome and the Rowley Mile deserves to be supported by owners and trainers.”

As well as revealing plans for its new twoday October meeting, Newmarket also stated it was open to the idea of moving the July meeting back to a midweek slot in 2016, so that the July Cup is again no longer staged on a congested Saturday that already contains York’s John Smith’s Cup card, along with valuable fixtures at Ascot and Chester.

Bookmakers’ voluntary contributions aid field-size drive The Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) fund was among the factors cited by the BHA in revealing that field sizes in the first month of 2015 were up on January 2014.

Figures show that the average field size for allweather races in January was 8.6, up from 8.1 the previous year, representing a 7% rise, while the proportion of races featuring fewer than six January witnessed more all-weather runners than it had the previous year

10

runners reduced by 3% (from 18% to 15%).

The AVC was part of the agreement of the 53rd levy scheme, with the four largest retail bookmakers (William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred) agreeing to make additional contributions of £4.5 million on top of statutory levy payments for 2014/15.

For owners, the significance of the AVC scheme primarily comes in the fact it was developed to assist with covering the cost of sending a runner to the track.

It was decided that a total of £5m (the extra £500,000 provided by the Levy Board) would be injected into prize-money through the chosen mechanisms – agreed with the same bookmakers – to help try to deliver more competitive racing, and in turn boost returns to the sport.

From December 1, 2014, approximately £4.2m has been committed towards extending the provision of prize-money in eligible Class 2 contests, which now pay down to eighth place,

and Class 3-6 races, which pay to sixth place for Flat and jump racing.

The amounts (see table below) are not being paid on top of existing prize-money where the place money is already equal to or above the level shown, but will ensure that every horse finishing down to eighth in a Class 2 will receive at least £400 and every horse finishing down to sixth in a Class 6, for example, will receive at least £200.

The funds from the AVC scheme will cover a 13-month period, ending on December 31 this year.

Class 2 3 4 5 6

Payment (£) 400 350 300 250 200

Places To 8th To 6th To 6th To 6th To 6th

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_News_Owner 20/02/2015 16:38 Page 11

Walking the Courses – and then some!

This month will witness the start of a 13-monthlong endeavour to benefit pancreatic cancer research and Racing Welfare.

Richard Farquhar, who lost his father to pancreatic cancer in 2012, is to set off on a mammoth 2,750-mile trek connecting all Britain’s 59 racecourses.

‘Walking the Courses’, as the undertaking has been called, will begin on Friday, March 20 at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile. From there, Towcester is the next stop, followed by Ascot.

The plan is to conclude back at Newmarket on April 14, 2016 at the Craven meeting, which Farquhar attended with his late father Peter for 26 consecutive years.

Each leg will end with Farquhar’s arrival at a racecourse on the day there is a meeting. His journey does not finish at the moment he reaches the gates of the racecourse, however. On the contrary, he will literally be walking the courses, ending each leg with a lap of the track, and finishing at the winning post.

Farquhar hopes that trainers, jockeys and other interested individuals will join him on this lap, to encourage him through the last few furlongs.

To put the figure of 2,750 miles in perspective, it is the equivalent of walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End, back to John O’Groats, back to Land’s End, then across to Newmarket.

Those helping publicise the walk have enlisted the help of ‘official supporters’.

These include Clare Balding, Lord Grimthorpe, Charlie Hills, Jason Maguire and Oliver Sherwood.

To learn more about the project, visit www.WalkingTheCourses.com.

Richard Farquhar is hoping for support on his marathon trek that starts this month

Gold Cup fancies head Grand National weights Cheltenham Gold Cup contenders Lord Windermere and Carlingford Lough have been allotted joint top-weight of 11st 10lb in the Crabbie’s Grand National at Aintree on April 11.

The latter is owned by JP McManus, although his retained jockey, the soon-to-retire AP McCoy, is expected to choose another McManus runner in Shutthefrontdoor (11st 2lb) as his farewell National ride.

The trainers hoping to raise a glass at Aintree on April 11

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Pineau De Re (11st) will have to defy an 8lb rise in the handicap if he is to repeat last year’s heroics for the Richard Newland stable, while Balthazar King (11st 2lb), runner-up in 2014, is 3lb higher and expected to head straight to the race.

With the McCoy factor sure to generate considerable extra interest in the wider media, Channel 4 will be confident of topping last year’s audience, which peaked at 8.5 million viewers.

The broadcaster has come under fire for alienating viewers since inheriting races previously shown on the BBC – the last Grand National shown on the BBC, in 2012, achieved a peak audience of 10.9 million viewers.

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Mar_127_News_Owner 20/02/2015 16:38 Page 12

NEWS

Glanders in Germany ‘minimal’ threat to UK German authorities reported a confirmed case of Glanders in a horse stabled in Osnabruck, Lower Saxony on February 2. Glanders is an infectious disease, which causes acute and chronic forms of upper respiratory, lung and skin disease. Transmission of infection is via contaminated food or water or by close contact with coughing, or by transmission of purulent material horse to horse, or via handler, tack or stable equipment.

Following a Newmarket Stud Farmers’ Association meeting on February 12, representatives from Defra/Animal and Plant Health Agency, the Animal Health Trust, Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and its two veterinary advisors and the British Horseracing Authority met with managers from the stallion stud farms, several of the local boarding stud farms and many of their veterinary advisors.

Professor Sidney Ricketts presented further details about this reported case following communications with the German Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. An

Professor Sidney Ricketts: on the case

apparently clinically normal seven-year-old Warmblood show-jumping horse tested positive to Glanders in early December during pre-export blood tests, following sale to USA. Following further blood tests, required to rule out a ‘false positive’ result, the disease was confirmed and euthanasia was performed on

December 13, as required by law. Although the horse had appeared symptomless, postmortem examinations revealed some superficial skin lesions, which tested positive for Glanders (Burkholderia mallei) DNA, re-confirming the diagnosis.

The German TBA advises that there is very little contact between show-jumping horses and breeding or thoroughbred horses in Germany.

As required by EU law, horses leaving Germany for other EU member states must, for the next six months, have official certification to confirm that they have not been stabled at premises, which have been restricted by the German authorities during their Glanders investigations.

Relevant veterinary examination papers, confirming their health and suitability for transport, must accompany German horses travelling to other EU member states.

Dr Richard Newton advised that the risk to thoroughbred horses in Germany currently appears very low and therefore the threat to UK thoroughbred horses appears minimal.

From March 2, racehorse owners, breeders and trainers in Britain must comply with new rules regarding the use of anabolic steroids, as part of the British Horseracing Authority’s zero-tolerance drugs policy.

The new rules, which were initially due to be implemented in January, state that a horse cannot receive an anabolic steroid at any point in its life; any horse that is found to have breached this rule will face a mandatory ban from training of 12 months and will be ineligible to race for a period of 14 months, dated from the time the breach occurred.

If a horse is tested and it is found to have been administered a prohibited substance, the BHA will pursue the ‘responsible person’ – i.e.

the person in charge of the animal at the time – for the violation. Hair sampling may be used to identify if a horse has been injected with anabolic steroids in contravention of the Rules of Racing in place at the time of the administration.

The new rules, which follow the anabolic steroids scandal at the Godolphin stable in 2013, have serious implications for all keepers of thoroughbreds and the BHA has produced extensive guidance notes that can be accessed at www.britishhorseracing.com.

• The April issue of Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder will include an in-depth look at the new drug rules and their implications for Britain’s racing and breeding industry.

GEORGE SELWYN

New anti-doping rules effective

St Leger victor Encke was later found to have been treated with steroids

Sprint to success …

Incorporating

BOTTISHAM HEATH STUD Robert Cowell is based at Bottisham Heath Stud, situated just five miles outside of Newmarket.

A family owned establishment, Bottisham Heath Stud is set within 180 acres of paddocks, with its own private poly track gallop and currently stabling for 60 horses.

It is a beautiful, peaceful and safe environment for horses to be trained in, with the added bonus of ‘time out’ in the paddocks to unwind and relax when needed.

As well as this unique and tranquil setting, we have easy access to the vast array of gallops in Newmarket, the headquarters of horseracing.

We truly believe we have the best of both worlds here at Robert Cowell Racing having trained a string of Group class winning horses such as Jwala, Kingsgate Native, Prohibit and Spirit Quartz.

We also offer full paddock boarding for mares, foals, yearlings, out of training horses, resting or retired.

Please contact us for further details on our competitive training rates.

Bottisham Heath Stud, Six Mile Bottom, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 0TT Tel: 01638 570330 • Mobile: 07785512463 • email: Robert@robertcowellracing.co.uk Website: www.robertcowellracing.co.uk • Twitter: @cowellracing

12

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

TWEENHILLS TIMES AN EYE FOR SUCCESS

MARCH 2015

Outstanding first foals for Havana Gold

Qatar Racing is breaking new ground on a regular basis as the winners come in, but success on ice will be remembered as one of the more original moments.

It came in February at St Moritz, where the Tweenhills Farm & Stud bred and raised Burning Blaze, won for jockey Jamie Spencer and trainer Olly Stevens. Sheikh Fahad and other members of his family were on hand to welcome in their winner.

Burning Blaze and staff at Stevens’ Robins Farm Racing base deserved this win after a luckless visit to the course last year when racing was abandoned during a meeting due to snow melt.

Thurlow is a rolls royce ride A daughter of Sebring, Thurlow gained her purchase price back in prize money with her latest victory, which came under jockey Craig Williams. After the victory he said: “Four-hundred metres out I was sitting on a Rolls Royce – she went there so easily. I can’t fault her.”

Photography: Fast Track Photography

Thurlow, a filly with an English place name but an Australian pedigree, won the Gr.3 Chairman’s Stakes at Sandown-Hillside in Melbourne in early February.

A $150,000 purchase by David Redvers at the 2014 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Thurlow is trained for Qatar Bloodstock by Robert Smerdon. Her latest win came on her third start, and followed a placing in the Gr3 VRC Emirates Airline Plate on her debut, and then a win in the Listed Santa’s Magical Kingdom Stakes.

At the time of going to press she was a candidate for one of Australia’s leading juvenile races, the Aus$1,000,000 Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes over 1,200 metres.

Racing to the Challenge The Ledbury Hunt Golden Button Challenge Sponsored by Equine R-Oil and The Buying Solution, took place in Gloucestershire recently, with numerous racing faces participating.

The 3m cross-country Challenge has previously been won by jockeys Paul Carberry and Eddie Ahern but this year, from the 62 starters, it was Dominic Gwyn-Jones who took the overall spoils from William Fox Grant in 2nd place.

The Under 21 section was won by Hugo Hunt, apprentice to Andrew Balding and a winning jockey for Qatar Racing. Hunt got Stybba up to land her sole victory in the Qatar Racing silks at Nottingham last season. Former Qatar Racing trainer Toby Coles also managed to complete the Challenge on his grey Warrior.

3rd place went to Irishman and retired jockey Paul Scallan, riding Los Galacticos.

Winner - Dom Gwyn-Jones takes the last en route to overall victory

Third-placed Paul Scallan on Los Galacticos

Toby Coles gets a flyer over a Golden Button hedge

Heavyweight Tom Lancaster in pursuit of Hugo Hunt

Photography: www.horseracing.ch/ Scarlett Schaer

blaze so cool on ice

Havana Gold’s first foals include this fabulous colt who was born at Tweenhills Farm & Stud on January 14.

He was produced by the three-time winner and Listed-placed mare Maid In Heaven (Clodovil).

David Redvers said: “This was the first foal by Havana Gold born at Tweenhills, and we are thrilled with him. He is strong, correct and has lots of quality, much like his father. The mare will return to Havana Gold this season.”

staff PROFILE Ben Purves Stud hand ‘Scottish Ben’, eh...

That’s to avoid confusion with stud groom Ben Hyde. I was brought up in Midlem near Selkirk in Scotland, and we had horses at home when I was a child. My dad was a retailer at the time and trained a few point-to-pointers as a hobby.

So you know how to sit back over a fence?

No, rugby was my sport. I played for my school and for club side Selkirk, but suffered a few injuries and needed operations on my knee and collarbone.

Since joining Tweenhills Stud I’ve played a few games for local side Newent.

From oval balls to bloodstock?

A friend of David Redvers, Clive Ashby of Newhall Estate, has a handful of broodmares, and while working there I learned a lot about breeding and foals.

David then helped me get a position at Haras de Monceaux, and I spent six months there and worked at the yearling sales. I joined Tweenhills before the December Sale.

What’s been different so far?

Handling stallions. They are a lovely group of horses, but it’s only natural they’ve become a bit more energetic since the breeding season started.

Tweenhills Farm & Stud, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, GL19 3BG W: www.tweenhills.com T: + 44 (0) 1452 700177 / 700545 M: + 44 (0) 7767 436373 E: davidredvers@tweenhills.com 511 - Tweenhills Times Mar 2015_V04.indd 1

18/02/2015 11:13

Mar_127_Changes2pp_Layout 1 20/02/2015 16:29 Page 14

in association with

Racing’s news in a nutshell PEOPLE AND BUSINESS Rupert Arnold Chief Executive of the National Trainers Federation joins the BHA’s board for a 12month term.

Oliver Sherwood Trainer enjoys the 1,000th winner of his career with Financial Climate at Chepstow.

Matt Mitchell Brightwells’ Head of Bloodstock will leave the post later this year although will continue in a part-time role from Ireland.

Brian Toomey Jump jockey who almost lost his life following a fall at Perth in July 2013 reapplies for his licence; the 25-year-old has the support of Dr Philip Pritchard.

Alan McCabe

Hamdan Al Maktoum Owner and breeder, whose Shadwell Stud enjoyed a terrific 2014, is inducted into the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association’s Hall of Fame.

Keiran Burke Trainer who enjoyed Cheltenham Festival success with Hunt Ball decides to relinquish his licence in just his fourth season.

Price-rigging On-course bookmakers at Wolverhampton are sent a letter from the track’s management warning them about pricefixing.

Frankie Dettori Agrees two-year contract to work for Channel 4 Racing when his riding commitments allow.

Investec Derby Channel 4 and Epsom agree new 4.30pm start time for Classic – half an hour later than previous years, after last year’s record low of 1.55 million viewers.

Trainer relocates from Nottinghamshire to the Shropshire stable owned by David Loder, for whom he worked as assistant trainer until 2005.

Derek Haydn Jones 71-year-old halts 44-year training career with unplaced run of Schottische at Southwell, having sent out around 500 winners in total.

Rebecca Bastiman 34-year-old sends out first runner having taken over licence from her father Robin, who trained for 40 years and enjoyed Group 1 glory with Borderlescott.

Also...

Barry Keniry, 35, retires from the saddle to focus on his breaking and pre-training business. The BHA recruits Australian Brant Dunshea to the new role of Head of Raceday Operations; the 42-year-old was previously employed by Harness Racing Victoria.

Roman Chapa, a 43-year-old Texas-based jockey, faces criminal charges for allegedly using an electronic buzzer while riding at Sam Houston Race Park in January. Tim Long, Ffos Las’s Clerk of the Course since it opened in 2009, is leaving his post after owner Dai Walters decided a loss of fixtures did not justify a full-time clerk. Martin Keighley shatters his left collarbone and fractures several ribs after the quadbike he was riding flipped over on the gallops. Stephen Lyle joins Channel 4 from the BBC, where he worked on Match of the Day, to replace Jamie Aitchison as Commissioning Editor for Sport.

Nadia Gollings Succeeds Pip Kirkby as General Manager of Market Rasen racecourse; the 30-yearold moves from Huntingdon racecourse.

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18/02/2015 11:43

Mar_127_Changes2pp_Layout 1 20/02/2015 16:30 Page 16

RACEHORSE AND STALLION MOVEMENTS AND RETIREMENTS Walkon Dual Grade 1 winner over hurdles, owned by the McNeill family and trained

by Alan King, is retired aged ten after pulling up at Cheltenham in January.

Medermit Winner of Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase in 2011 for the Alan King stable is retired aged 11 after injuring himself in the Skybet Chase at Doncaster.

Spring At Last Son of Silver Deputy, winner of the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, to continue stud career in Saudi Arabia following purchase from Kentucky’s WinStar Farm.

Libranno Librettist’s son, a triple Group 2 winner, moves from Newmarket’s Rosyground Stud to Clongeel Stud in County Cork.

Also...

Farraaj, third in an Australian Group 1 in November, leaves Roger Varian’s stable to join Dhruba Selvaratnam in the UAE. Dubai Destination is sold to continue his stud career in Saudi Arabia, having previously been based in Ireland. Encosta De Lago, a top stallion in Australia with 23 Group 1 winners and two sires’ titles, is retired from stud duties aged 21.

Sky Classic, a Canadian-bred son of Nijinsky, is retired from covering aged 28; he sired ten top-level winners and was damsire of Classic heroine Speciosa. Cappa Bleu is retired aged 13; he won at the 2009 Cheltenham Festival and twice finished placed in the Grand National.

PEOPLE OBITUARIES

Libertarian Son of New Approach, Dante Stakes winner and Derby runner-up in 2013, will stand at Knockhouse Stud in County Kilkenny.

Pierce Molony 65

Bernie Levien 88

Lizz Rice 26

Yann Poirier 44

Popular owner and manager of Thurles racecourse, which is the only privately-owned track in Ireland.

English-born work-rider dies of injuries sustained in an accident at Caulfield in January.

Captain Pat Upton 83

Ex-jockey who survived a bad fall at Wincanton to enjoy a successful training career with the likes of Fighting Taffy and Dancing Rain.

Racecourse bookmaker who stood as ‘Jolly Joe’ and attended 64 Derbys by the time he retired in 2012.

Leading pre-trainer in France and owner of Haras du Chene, his graduates including Group 1 winners Chichicastenango and Sahpresa.

Jack Powell 101

Former DBS director and leading vet who alongside wife Sheila bred 1976 Cheltenham Gold Cup victor Royal Frolic.

HORSE OBITUARIES Fort Wood 25

Group 1 winner on the track who went on to become champion sire in South Africa, his progeny including SA Triple Crown hero Horse Chestnut.

Le Vent D’Antan 6

Exciting novice chaser trained by Liz Doyle is put down after falling in a Grade 1 event at Leopardstown won by Apache Stronghold.

Hay List 10

Top-rank sprinter in Australia who won three Group 1s for trainer John McNair and finished second to Black Caviar on four occasions.

16

Dilum 26

High-class two-year-old for Paul Cole and Fahd Salman, beating Dr Devious in the Coventry Stakes and winning the Gimcrack.

Levitate 7

Winner of the 2013 Lincoln Handicap for owner Charles Wentworth and trainer John Quinn suffers a fatal injury on the gallops.

Arcadian Heights 27

Temperamental customer who won the Gold Cup at Ascot in 1994 for owner John Pearce and trainer Geoff Wragg.

Stay Gold 21

Leading racehorse and stallion in Japan, winning the Hong Kong Vase and siring multiple Grade 1 scorer and dual Arc runner-up Orfevre.

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Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoyIntro_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:46 Page 19

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL: AP McCOY

“ This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make ”

End of an era When Anthony Peter McCoy revealed that this would be his final season as a professional jockey, live on Channel 4, the British racing landscape changed instantly. As McCoy, 40, prepares to be crowned champion jump jockey for the 20th successive season, after a career that has yielded over 4,300 winners, we pay tribute to one of the greatest sportsmen of all time with a selection of photographs that define his achievements in the saddle.

Photos by George Selwyn

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy1_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:51 Page 20

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL

New order The first Grade 1 victory of McCoy’s career came on top twomiler Viking Flagship in the Melling Chase at Aintree in 1996.

Deputising for the injured Adrian Maguire on the David Nicholson-trained gelding, they saw off favourite Sound Man, partnered by fellow Ulsterman Richard Dunwoody. Champion jump jockey for the previous three seasons, Dunwoody lost his title in that 1995-96 campaign to McCoy, who would go on to dominate the riders’ championship for the next two decades.

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy1_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:51 Page 21

AP McCOY

“ I’ve never had a better ride and I probably never will ”

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy5_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:52 Page 22

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL

“ I am ecstatic. All 3,000 winners have taken a lot of hard work ”

Landmark February 9, 2009: the day McCoy rode his 3,000th winner was one neither the jockey or those who were present will ever forget. A barely raceable Plumpton was the scene as McCoy came within one of the milestone aboard Hello Moscow (main image). In desperate conditions and with McCoy sweating down to ride at 10st 4lb, Miss Sarenne (top right) looked set to score but took a tired fall at the last with the race at her mercy. Undaunted, McCoy picked himself up off the floor to drive Restless D’Artaix to glory in the very next race.

He recorded his 4,000th winner at Towcester on November 7, 2013 aboard Mountain Tunes.

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy5_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:52 Page 23

AP McCOY

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:53 Page 24

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL

Rivalry For every champion, there is a runner-up, and when it comes to McCoy’s closest pursuer in terms of riding winners in Britain, that inevitably means Richard Johnson. On no less than 15 occasions the two men have finished first and second in the jockeys’ table, always in the same order. McCoy would still have achieved his record number of championships without his most famous rival, but, by his own admission, is unlikely to have been pushed to ride as many winners.

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:53 Page 25

AP McCOY

“ Having Richard as an adversary has spurred me on to ride more winners”

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy4v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:55 Page 26

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL

“ It means everything to me to win the Grand National ”

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy4v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:55 Page 27

AP McCOY

Relief The Grand National was one of the few big races missing on McCoy’s CV but all that changed in 2010 when Don’t Push It captured Aintree’s world-famous contest.

The victory proved the catalyst behind the successful BBC Sports Personality of the Year campaign, as McCoy became the first jockey ever to win the coveted prize. Of the race, McCoy said: “Everyone on the street knows about the Grand National.

It’s the people’s race and, from a jockey’s perspective, that's why it’s important.” It was also important to McCoy’s then twoyear-old daughter, Eve (pictured left).

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy3_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:56 Page 28

THE BIG PICTURE SPECIAL

“ You can’t fight fate and it

was obviously meant to be ”

Triumph McCoy’s farewell tour of Britain and Ireland would not have been complete without a fairytale victory or two: step forward Carlingford Lough, who carried him to a first success in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown in the silks of JP McManus. McCoy will now bid for a perfect send-off at this month’s Cheltenham Festival, with either Carlingford Lough or Holywell likely to try and give the jockey his third Gold Cup triumph after Mr Mulligan in 1997 and Synchronised in 2012.

Mar_127_Big_Picture_McCoy3_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:56 Page 29

AP McCOY

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Mar_127_Tony_Morris_Owner 20/02/2015 14:19 Page 32

THE MAN YOU CAN’T IGNORE COMMENT

Tony Morris There are now more individual Pattern race winners than there were races in 1993, but at least the recently-announced alterations to the programme display a bit of common sense

32

GEORGE SELWYN

W

e have lately witnessed rare and remarkable outbreaks of common sense among those responsible for the scheduling of major races on both sides of the English Channel. Neither development actually went as far as it should have, and though both were in the nature of correcting mistakes perpetrated in recent years, there appear to have been no apologies for those past errors.

The welcome news from France was that the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, the two-year-old feature open to colts and fillies contested at Longchamp on Arc day, would in future be contested over a mile instead of seven furlongs.

This move restores the situation that existed until the uncalled-for meddling of 2001, which served no discernible purpose.

The French had an admirably logical schedule of prestige events long before the notion of a European Pattern was conceived, and it was particularly effective in the realm of juvenile racing. I grew up readily appreciating the sense of a programme that tested the best of the crop over progressive distances. The series started with the Prix Robert Papin over five and a half furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte in July, continued with the Prix Morny over six furlongs at Deauville in August, took in the Prix de la Salamandre over seven furlongs at Longchamp in September, and concluded with the Grand Criterium over a mile back at Longchamp in October.

It was a schedule that pretty much dictated how horsemen should campaign their better two-year-olds, and it proved highly successful, routinely identifying the best of the generation.

Everyone recognised the fact that this was a series, and many horses would be entered for all four events. It was known familiarly as France’s Juvenile Quadruple Crown, and I remember being mightily excited when the English-trained My Swallow became the first ever to register victories in all four events in 1970. Blushing Groom, later a Classic winner and internationally successful sire, emulated My Swallow’s feat in 1976.

The Grand Criterium (which was restyled the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in honour of that

An exciting finish to the 2014 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, which reverts to a mile trip

notable owner-breeder in 2003) had been a mile contest since 1864 and had regularly proved to be the defining event of the twoyear-old season, deciding the destiny of the championship. It was precisely because the race had been so obviously successful over many decades that Phil Bull instituted the Timeform Gold Cup, the event we know now as the Racing Post Trophy, at Doncaster in 1961; until then there had been no race of comparable stature for juveniles over a mile in Britain. In its inaugural year it was the most valuable race for the youngest racing crop outside the USA, and horsemen soon recognised that it was a welcome – indeed hugely significant – addition to the schedule.

Just like the Grand Criterium, it identified champions and often provided an excellent guide to the following year’s Classics.

The Grand Criterium was still fulfilling its role as the culmination of the Group 1 Juvenile Quadruple Crown in 2000 when it was won

by undefeated champion Okawango, so what on earth was the point of reducing its distance for 2001? Did France need to replicate the Prix de la Salamandre? Two-year-olds were eligible for the all-aged Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs; they always had that option. This was a classic case of fixing something that was not broken, a blunder the French repeated in 2005 when, in spite of widespread disapproval, they reduced the distance of the Prix du JockeyClub to ten and a half furlongs. That move was predictably disastrous and has proved so, forfeiting the race’s status as a direct counterpart of the premier Classics staged at Epsom, the Curragh and Hamburg.

Dilution, dilution, dilution From the inception of the European Pattern Race Scheme in 1971 it was acknowledged that there would be evolution. We especially expected growth, but I don’t suppose that anyone anticipated expansion on such a scale THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_Tony_Morris_Owner 20/02/2015 14:19 Page 33

IF YOU BELIEVE YOUR HORSE FEED IS COMPLETE... that in 2013 there would be more individual Pattern winners (315) than there were Pattern races in 1993 (314). There has, inevitably, been a lot of change, some of it quite necessary and acceptable, but I can only deplore changes to elite events that ignore history and tradition.

The reversion of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere to its traditional distance has supposedly enabled the re-vamping of England’s autumn programme and the establishment of a two-day bonanza fixture on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course in October, strongly supported by Dubai, with something in excess of £2 million in prize-money on offer.

That news, announced in mid-February, was immediately given a warm welcome by prominent owners and trainers, and I echo such sentiments, while having some reservations about the detail.

Give Sunday a chance The occasion has been dubbed ‘Champions Weekend,’ but since when have Friday and Saturday constituted a weekend? Are there such short memories among the HQ team that they have forgotten the dreadfully disappointing 2014 Friday, when Newmarket staged part one of the ill-conceived double act with Ascot?

Can anyone doubt that the fixture would be more sensibly and more profitably staged on Saturday and Sunday? We are led to believe that such an arrangement was discussed, but that Newmarket was not able “to secure the engagement of all the stakeholders”. I suspect they didn’t try hard enough.

As for the suggestion that Newmarket never wanted to stage the Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes on the same day, I seem to recollect that the racecourse accepted that folly readily enough at the time. And, far from defending the Champion Stakes, for well over a century the course’s principal weight-for-age event, it actually yielded it up to Ascot with scarcely a murmur of discontent – and imagined that Newmarket regulars would be amply compensated by the transfer from Ascot of the Fillies’ Mile and the Royal Lodge Stakes.

The Champion Stakes was not just one of Newmarket’s crown jewels; it was unique in the world as the only major race contested over a straight mile and a quarter. That alone should have been sufficient for the course to have fought tooth and nail for its preservation at its natural home. It’s a different race now, with no distinguishing feature, sacrificed for no better reason than making it more available to Londoners. As my old friend Jean Hislop used to say, when such crass decisions were made: “When do they ever consider the horse?”

Along with the announcement of Newmarket’s new autumn attraction came a strong hint that the July Cup would revert to its traditional midweek date in 2016 after five years in a Saturday slot when it has had to compete with high-profile cards at York, Ascot and Chester. The change made in 2011 was resented from the start by bookmakers and punters, as well as by owners and trainers; opposition to the move could hardly have been more comprehensive.

Amy Starkey, on behalf of Newmarket, referred to changes to the July meeting “that have met with criticism and been the source of ongoing debate in recent years”. To my mind, that was putting it all too mildly. How refreshing it would have been if she had just admitted: “We got it wrong.”

Still, the knowledge that the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere is reverting to its traditional distance, that there will once again be two weeks between the Middle Park and the Dewhurst, and that the July Cup will likely go back to a midweek slot, amount to admissions that changes were wrongly implemented. Next I want to learn that the Prix du JockeyClub is returning to its traditional distance and the Champion Stakes to its natural home. But I’m not holding my breath.

And now they tell me that this year’s Derby will be run at 4.30pm, in the hope of adding to the TV audience. Not just wrong day, but wrong time as well now.

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Mar_127_HowardWright_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:13 Page 34

HOWARD WRIGHT COMMENT

The Levy Board’s top-ten races list, while better than no list, falls short of giving those not in the know an insightful picture of punters’ preferences

Turnover tables turn us over

34

GEORGE SELWYN

A

ccording to Mark Twain, and plenty of others before and since, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. To that derogatory trio can now be added the betting-turnover tables that the Levy Board has published for almost a year.

Not that listing the top ten races over quarterly and half-yearly periods is a lie in the strict sense of the word, since the bare details revealed are facts.

And not that the Levy Board should be castigated for publishing them, since even this small amount of detail has never before been presented publicly by an official source.

It’s just that as far as interpretation is concerned, they are no more than vaguely interesting in their present ranking form.

Lacking the indices that are a minimum requirement for meaningful analysis, they provide only the tiniest guidance for comparison between races in an individual month and even less on a rolling basis.

As such they fall way short of offering a full picture of punters’ preferences, and are nowhere near being a useful tool to make suggestions on repairing possible deficiencies in the racing programme.

The truth is that more detailed, and therefore more informative, data are available, for the tables compiled by the Levy Board since it took on the services of a betting analyst are a distillation of race-by-race information collated and submitted monthly on a goodwill basis by Coral, William Hill and Ladbrokes.

However, the data package enters Levy Board headquarters in the straightjacket of a stringent non-disclosure agreement.

Confidentiality rules, so that the greater the level of access and use, the lower the degree of identification. At the top end of security, raceby-race figures greatly assist Levy Board executives in their planning; at the bottom end come the sanitised monthly tables.

Since 2010, when the advisory group the Betting Patterns Working Party was worthily resuscitated at the suggestion of Chief Executive Douglas Erskine-Crum and his later successor Alan Delmonte, the raw figures have been used to frame reports on individual topics relating to the punting public’s betting habits.

Most recently, significant issues under investigation have included Future Champions Day and the impact of non-runners, for

Where punters’ money is going, and in what proportions, remains a private matter

example. So, their value is greatly appreciated in certain circles, presumably not least among those Levy Board executives responsible for preparing agenda items for BPWP meetings.

It’s safe to assume that the findings from the raw data, which underpin the reports, are relayed to the BHA racing department and other

“Significant issues

under investigation have included Future Champions Day and non-runners” interested parties, since the 17-strong BPWP line-up includes representatives from the BHA, RCA, RMG, the Horsemen’s Group and REL. But findings are as far as they go, which is not very far, and certainly not far enough to say this is exactly where punters are putting their money, and in what proportions.

The BHA did receive the raw material for a

short period about five years ago, when the Levy Board’s Bookmakers’ Committee acted as a conduit for index-numbered information flowing between the betting industry and racing.

The link was broken during a spat over the fixture list, when the BHA took an unannounced and unilateral stand over the number of meetings, and trust between the two sides was shattered.

Although personalities have changed, maybe attitudes have not, and possibly the fear that even indexed information could be used to promote individual interpretations of analysis among racing interests is behind the bookmakers’ reluctance to be more liberal on distribution of their data.

However, given all the recent relevant and justified talk about the interdependence of racing and betting, it should be possible to devise a suitable mechanism for the major bookmakers to share vital betting data with racing, without risking the integrity of the figures, which in turn would probably put the supply chain to the Levy Board in jeopardy.

Now that Nick Rust is safely ensconced at the BHA, perhaps he could have a reassuring word in the ears of his former colleagues.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Shadwell OB Jan 2015_Shadwell OB Nov 2014 16/02/2015 16:26 Page 2

NEW FOR 2015

SHADWELL STALLIONS 2015 Standing at Nunnery Stud, England

MUKHADRAM Shamardal - Magic Tree

The first Gr.1 winning son of leading European sire SHAMARDAL to stand in the UK. 2 length winner of 2014 Coral-Eclipse (Gr.1) beating the winning time of: NATHANIEL, TWICE OVER and SO YOU THINK.

MUKHADRAM

2015 Fee - £7,000 (1st JAN, SLF)

NAYEF Gulch - Height Of Fashion

2014: 51% winners/runners with his European 3YOS.* 2014 Group performers: Gr.2 British Champions Long Distance Cup winner FORGOTTEN RULES, Gr.3 Jersey Stakes winner MUSTAJEEB, Gr.3 winner SNOW SKY and Gr.1 placed TASADAY.

2015 Fee - £5,000 (1st JAN, SLF)

NAYEF

MAWATHEEQ

MAWATHEEQ Danzig - Sarayir

A Group winning last son of DANZIG with a winning first crop of 2YOS.

2015 Fee - PRIVATE

SAKHEE Bahri - Thawakib

Sire in 2014 of dual stakes winning sprinter TIMELESS CALL.

2015 Fee - PRIVATE Also standing in England

HAAFHD Alhaarth - Al Bahathri

SAKHEE

HAAFHD

2014: Sire of Gr.1 winner JUNOOB.

2015 Fee - £3,000 (1st OCT) Standing in France

MUHTATHIR

Elmaamul - Majmu

A leading sire in France with a winners/runners strike rate of 40%.

2015 Fee - €7,000 (1st OCT, Live Foal) Standing in Italy

MUJAHID Danzig - Elrafa Ah

Leading Italian based sire in Italy for the 3rd consecutive year.

MUHTATHIR

MUJAHID

2015 Fee - €5,500 (1st OCT, SLF)

*www.racingpost.com 15-10-14

Discover more about the Shadwell Stallions at www.shadwellstud.co.uk Or call Richard Lancaster, Johnny Peter-Hoblyn or Rachael Gowland on

01842 755913

Email us at: nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk

Knockhouse Stud OB Mar 2015 f-p_Knockhouse Stud OB Mar 2015 f-p 20/02/2015 13:53 Page 1

LIBERTARIAN bay, 2010, 16.3hh by New Approach ex Intrum Morshaan (Darshaan)

NEW for 2015

Race record from only 6 starts: 1st Maiden Stakes, 1m2f, Pontefract, on debut.

1st Gr.2 Dante Stakes, 1m2½f, York, beating Trading Leather.

2nd Gr.1 Investec Derby, 1m4f, Epsom Downs, behind Ruler of the World and beating Battle of Marengo and Ocovango.

4th Gr.1 Ladbrokes St Leger, 1m6½f, Doncaster, behind Leading Light.

• • • •

Stunning looking son of New Approach.

Bred on the classic New Approach/Darshaan cross.

From the same family as Halling.

Second son of New Approach to go to stud.

“With any pace in the race, he'd have won.”

KARL RICHARD BURKE, AFTER THE EPSOM DERBY-GR.1 Also standing: Grey Swallow, Notnowcato, Touch of Land, Millenary, Prince Flori & Subtle Power

Sean or Janet Kinsella, Knockhouse Stud, Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland Tel: 00353 51 885170/885363 • Mobile: 00353 85 7852067 seankhstud@eircom.net • www.knockhousestud.com Follow us on twitter and facebook

Mar_127_View_From_Ireland_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:21 Page 37

VIEW FROM IRELAND

By JESSICA LAMB

Big hopes for Sandra’s small team After the death of Dessie Hughes in November, it is his daughter heading to Cheltenham

CAROLINE NORRIS

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

GEORGE SELWYN

W

orld Hurdle hope Lieutenant Colonel is poised to spearhead a strong team for Sandra Hughes’s first journey to Cheltenham as a trainer this month. Hughes took over from her father Dessie after his death late last year and his words of advice regarding Lieutenant Colonel still ring in her ears as she prepares the six-year-old for a clash with Rock On Ruby and Saphir Du Rheu in the stayers’ hurdling crown.

Gigginstown House Stud’s contender had begun this season over fences, but a below-par outing got Hughes snr thinking. He remembered what sticking to hurdles for a second season did for Bright New Dawn, who runs in the same Gigginstown House Stud colours, and decided a return to the smaller obstacles was worth a try.

“He ran very well in the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle last season and we just thought the extra season over hurdles might crown him,” Sandra Hughes said before the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle.

Lieutenant Colonel romped to a four-length win over Jetson in that two-and-a-half-mile

Could Lieutenant Colonel (below) be a first Festival winner for Sandra Hughes?

Grade 1 and pipped the same rival by threeparts of a length when stepped up to three miles at Leopardstown in December. That put him bang in the frame for the World Hurdle.

Hughes said: “What you really need going to that race is to be proven. He has his Grade 1 win so we’re sorted on that front and he would be our main chance of the week.

“Dad always thought giving them an easy enough year, with just three or four runs, would benefit the horses. When we were schooling all the novice hurdlers from last year, he jumped exceptionally well so we decided to go for the beginners’ chase at Naas, but he didn’t jump as well as he can. That’s when Eddie and Michael [O’Leary, Gigginstown House Stud bosses] decided to keep him over hurdles.”

Of the World Hurdle bid, she added: “He ran a beautiful race last year at Cheltenham when he was only a frame of a horse. He’s come on a lot and is much stronger. We’d be hopeful.”

Gigginstown’s Sub Lieutenant will be Hughes’ lead novice hurdler at the Festival, while Fairyhouse beginners’ chase scorer Thunder And Roses could be a dark horse for the National Hunt Chase. It’s not a huge team,

but it is a high-profile one for Hughes to manage in just her third month at the helm. How does she feel?

“I don’t really feel any different,” she said. “It’s still Osborne Lodge and the same team are here, so the pressure is just the same. There’s no extra.

“I’ve been involved in the yard since I came home from England, which was about eight years ago. When dad got sick the first time, which was a year and a half ago, I really started to up my game and get a lot more involved.”

Her father’s death left a hole in the fabric of Irish racing but, as his daughter says, his long illness meant that those closest to him had been preparing for the worst for some time.

Changing over from backroom to licenceholder was seamless for Hughes; she remains at his famous Curragh yard and retains the same team that helped her father win Champion Hurdles with Hardy Eustace, Grade 1s with chasers Schindlers Hunt and Central House, and the Triumph Hurdle with Our Conor.

The current licence holder had a part in those big wins, including ill-fated Our Conor’s Festival triumph two years ago, and has had an education at the hands of one of Ireland’s most patient, loyal and wise tutors.

Though she is cautious in her hopes for this first expedition, she has confidence in the strength of her leading man, Lieutenant Colonel. He poignantly won the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle only two weeks after her father’s death.

Could he top that in the shadow of Cleeve Hill?

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Mar_127_View_From_Ireland_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:22 Page 38

VIEW FROM IRELAND

One month after receiving the Irish Sport Council’s lifetime achievement award at the Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year awards, pioneering horsewoman Joanna Morgan has relinquished her trainer’s licence, with an autobiography in the offing.

Morgan, 61, revealed her wish to give up an 18-year career just 24 hours after Champion Hurdle-winning jockey Charlie Swan announced his plans to retire from training, citing finances as his chief reason.

As she did so she was quick to stress that it was not financial problems that were causing her to step back, rather a wish to free herself from the commitment and explore other avenues.

Already settling into her new life, she said: “There are parts of it you’d miss, certainly, but I’d had enough of it. It’s such a commitment and it’s hard work. You might as well be minding people’s children, and 50 or so of them. It’s great fun, of course, when it’s going well and I have had some great days, but I needed to stop.”

Morgan saddled more than 200 winners in her training career, the Group 3-winning sprinter One Won One taking her to Dubai, Hong Kong and the US, and Roca Tumu (now named Beauty Flame) giving her a first Royal Ascot win in the Britannia Stakes two years ago.

But it is not as a trainer that Morgan has stamped an indelible mark on racing; when the Welsh-woman came to Ireland in 1974, two years after the Turf Club first decreed females could be licensed as jockeys, she was faced with damning sexism.

What she achieved in becoming Ireland’s first professional female jockey, with the help of her considerable horsemanship and the support of

CAROLINE NORRIS

Joanna Morgan ready to write new chapter

Morgan: pioneering female jockey who went on to become a successful trainer

trainer and boss Seamus McGrath, paved the way for every female riding today.

She will forever hold the accolade of becoming the first woman to ride at Royal Ascot, the first to ride in an Irish Classic, and

will cherish the memory of beating Lester Piggott in a photo-finish at the Curragh.

These are the facts and a writer’s sentiments, but soon the complete story could be told in print as Morgan has expressed a wish to pen an autobiography with her new-found free time.

“I suppose I am fairly well-educated,” she said, modestly. “I might write a book. I have that in the back of my head, writing my autobiography. I think I could do it myself, too.

I would need someone to edit it, but I’d like to write it. The trouble with it is, how do you get the whole story out without writing the stuff you don’t want to tell? I’m definitely thinking about it anyway. It’s an idea.”

With her children having grown up in racing and pursuing careers within the industry, Morgan will never retreat completely.

She explained: “I’ve 42 acres here and always was buying and selling horses, and I have a couple of yearlings and will keep some horses.

I’d imagine I’ll always do that. It’s part of my life now.”

She added, tongue-in-cheek: “I was thinking I should become a consultant as I’ve gone all the way up through the ranks in my time and have done all the jobs going; I started working for Seamus McGrath for 14 quid a week.

“Racing has changed a good bit in that time.

When I first came to Ireland, when you needed to meet someone, you went to mass, the match or the racing. There were no mobile phones or internet, so that’s where you met and had the craic with people.

“Now you have all this technology and the racing on television, so it is hard to give people a reason to leave the sitting room to stand on a cold spot watching the racing, when they could as easily watch the races by the fire at home.”

Stud and Stable Staff Awards boosted by Godolphin Godolphin has stepped in to bring the Irish Stable Staff Awards up towards the considerable level of its British equivalent.

From virtually no prize fund, Sheikh Mohammed has pledged €70,000 to this year’s event, which will be managed by the Irish Stable Staff Association and Horse Racing Ireland, in conjunction with the Racing Post.

The move completely changes the format, ripping up the old awards schedule and replacing it with ten categories topped by the €10,000 Irish Racing Excellence Award, given to one of the winners in the five main categories.

Hugh Anderson, Managing Director of Godolphin in Britain and Dubai, said: “After

38

the success of the British version of these awards over many years, we are convinced that this is a wonderful way to honour and reward the skill and dedication of those who are the backbone of our industry.

“We encourage trainers, stud managers, owners and stable staff to nominate people whom they feel deserve an award for their hard work and professionalism.”

Nominations close on March 18 and the Awards will be held at the Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge on Tuesday, April 14.

The winner of each of the five main categories will receive a cash prize of €5,000 and a trophy, with the winner that goes on to take the Irish Racing Excellence title gaining another €5,000 and the same

amount for their yard or stud. The two runners-up in each of these categories will receive €500 each, and an additional €4,000 will also be awarded to each winner’s yard or stud.

The winner of the Dedication to Racing, Lifelong Learning, Ancillary Services and the Racecourse Grooms’ Canteen Award will each receive €2,500 and a trophy.

Trainers, owners, managers and colleagues are encouraged to nominate.

Forms will be distributed by ISSA and HRI. All nominations must include a rationale for why the nominated individual should be selected, along with a minimum of two referees who can be contacted directly by the panel.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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■ Fee: €5,000

“ the handsome Americain will be popular on looks alone and his first foals have his strength and quality”

John Osborne

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John Osborne, Gary Swift, Sinead Hyland or Helen Boyce Tel: +353 (0)45 521251 Gary +353 (0)86 6031979

Mar_127_Continental_Tales_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:14 Page 40

CONTINENTAL TALES

JERSEY RACE CLUB

By JAMES CRISPE, INTERNATIONAL RACING BUREAU

Y SE

An attraction getting stronger

GUER N

Number of British runners soars from three to 75 in just a few years

L

ast year was a record-breaking one for British runners abroad as, for the first time, trainers from these shores saddled overseas raiders on more than 1,000 occasions.

Remarkably, the country that enjoyed the biggest explosion of British visitors was the Channel Islands as no fewer than 75 horses made the four-and-a-half-hour ferry journey to take part in one of the Islands’ ten meetings. Just three years earlier the number of cross-Channel equine competitors had been a mere three.

So, how can one account for this startling increase, and was it just a one-off?

The best man to answer those questions is Jonathan Perrée, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Channel Island Racing and Hunt Club. “There is an increased awareness of racing in the Channel Islands,” he said. “The Jersey Race Club in particular has been very proactive in raising the profile of the Islands to a wider audience. There have been associations with Goodwood as well as features on the racing channels, which has brought us into the minds of owners and trainers as somewhere to race.

“Trainers George Baker, Neil Mulholland and Brendan Powell, to name a few, have clearly enjoyed travelling to the Islands to race and encouraged their owners to make a weekend of it by coming to see their charge in action. So a big thank you to them for their efforts.“ The money on offer is far from spectacular – Newmarket trainer Tony Carson won the richest prize of 2014, the Ravenscroft Channel Island Handicap, with the 65-rated gelding Hail Promenader, yet pocketed only £3,100.

However, travel allowances are available.

British trainers are eligible for a payment of

40

£250 per runner at Guernsey’s one-day-a-year racecourse, L’Ancresse, whilst a foreign trainer gets £150 for a single runner at one of the nine annual meetings at Les Landes in Jersey plus a little less, on a sliding scale, if he travels over with more than one horse.

And the real attraction for owners considering a visit is the likelihood of an enjoyable day out.

Decent crowds of between 1,500 and 2,000 are the norm at Les Landes, whilst L’Ancresse’s May Bank Holiday fixture was blessed with beautiful

“Racing in both

islands is unique and like a point-to-point, though it is so much more than that” weather last year, prompting an attendance of about 3,000.

“The atmosphere in the car parks is akin to point-to-points, with picnickers making the most of the fine weather we get in the Islands,” Perrée said. “The members’ marquee is also a very good dining option and day membership is available if required, although booking is essential as it’s very popular.

“Neither course has stalls, nor are there plans to have them. It is a flag or tape start, even in a five-furlong race. Racing in both islands is unique and to say it’s like a point-to-point is fair,

though it is so much more than that!”

The prevailing friendly atmosphere should not be mistaken for amateurism where horse and rider safety is concerned. At least one of the bends at both Les Landes and L’Ancresse could fairly be called ‘challenging’. Yet equine injuries are mercifully rare and Les Landes in particular has good on-site medical facilities even though when two jockeys parted company last season (one in a Flat race, one over hurdles) they were the first fallers at the course for some five years.

It would be simplistic to suggest the recent sudden surge in overseas participation does not have a down side. Of the 50 contests (including nine hurdle races) staged in the Channel Islands in 2014, 23 trophies were exported to Britain.

This must cause some resentment among the locals, surely? “Resentment is a very strong word and I don’t think it’s correct,” Perrée insisted.

“British horses are thought to have a fitness advantage in the early meetings because of their year-round all-weather tracks.

“My view would be that the Channel Islands racing community is a small but strong one and no one likes losing. This loyal community has been very supportive of racing in the islands and relishes the chance to race, whether that is against themselves or visitors. Nevertheless, the Jersey Race Club is looking at restricting some races to locally-trained horses to allow some sport between the resident owners and trainers.”

So a small amount of protectionism may be on the cards. Yet Perrée is hopeful that the 2014 level of foreign participation (which peaked when 21 of the 29 runners at the five-race L’Ancresse fixture were ‘outsiders’) can be maintained.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Y SE

JER

The Channel Islands might not offer lots of prize-money, but its meetings draw decent crowds and provide a great day out

Y KE

Back in the mix with Classic filly

SPA

Following a five-year absence, Turkey has made a return to the Dubai World Cup Carnival this year in the form of its 2014 Oaks winner and Derby runner-up Suzi Gold.

Contrary to impressions given by the home team’s dismal recent efforts to repel foreign raiders in the annual Turkish International Races run in Istanbul in early September, previous forays to Dubai suggest that Suzi Gold should not be underestimated.

The previous Turkish runner at Meydan was a Turkish Derby winner, Pan River, who impressed in a three-outing 2010 campaign, winning a handicap and finishing runner-up in Group 2 company prior to a creditable seventh place, beaten less than five lengths by the British winner Dar Re Mi, in the Dubai Sheema Classic on World Cup Night.

If you go back a bit further, both Sabirli and Ribella flew their red and white crescent star national flag with pride at Nad Al Sheba, each triumphing on one occasion.

Suzi Gold, a never-nearer sixth in the Group 2 Balanchine over nine furlongs on her Dubai debut in February, was bred in Turkey and is from the first crop of the imported English stallion Banknote. His racing career for trainer Andrew Balding and owner/breeder the Queen encompassed six seasons and a Group 3 success in Germany.

She has already proved that she can mix it

IN

DUBAI RACING CLUB/ANDREW WATKINS

TU R

A

Mar_127_Continental_Tales_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:14 Page 41

Pan River was the last horse trained in Turkey to win at Meydan in 2010

with the boys, first with that fine Derby second and later when taking revenge on her Derby conqueror, Blaze To Win, en route to securing the £157,303 first prize in the Group 1 Presidents Cup in October.

Suzi Gold’s connections will no doubt be hopeful that she can better that first performance, with improvement expected when she steps up in trip to ten furlongs and further.

Setback as Seville season scrapped The entire three-month winter racing season at Dos Hermanas racecourse in Seville has been lost owing to an administrative dispute within Spanish racing, which came to a head on January 30 when the debt-ridden SFCCE (Spanish Jockey Club) went into liquidation.

Although this sounds pretty alarming (and some trainers, including Noozhoh Canarias’s erstwhile handler Enrique Leon and his 17-strong string, have been forced to temporarily relocate across the French border to Pau), the main part of the Spanish season should not be affected.

Interim measures are already being put in place to allow crucial SFCCE activities – such as licensing, dope testing and stewarding – to continue while the Consejo

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Superior de Deportes (National Sports Council) appoints a new body to take over on a permanent basis.

La Zarzuela racecourse in Madrid has stated that it still intends to begin its planned 39-meeting, 225-race season as scheduled on March 1 with total prizemoney of €3.4 million (£2.64m) up for grabs, while San Sebastian has announced its own 15-fixture programme starting in June.

Meanwhile, San Sebastian’s International Agent, Nick Higgins, has important matters rather closer at hand as he is to fulfil a longheld ambition by riding in the Greatwood Charity Race over one mile and five furlongs at Newbury on Saturday, February 28.

“I’ve wanted to have a go at race-riding since the age of ten,” Higgins admitted. “At school my friends and I would stage pretend races involving Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery, Willie Carson and my own personal favourite, Cash Asmussen.”

His dream almost became reality 20 years ago when he took out a Spanish amateur licence but he never managed to secure a ride in a race. Now, almost two stone lighter than he was a few months ago and following a visit to Oaksey House to have his style on the Equicizer analysed by John Reid, he is finally going to get the chance.

Anyone wishing to support Nick and Greatwood can do so by logging on to www.justgiving.com and searching for the key word ‘NickHigginsHorseRace’.

41

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Mar_127_AroundtheGlobe_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 13:48 Page 43

AROUND THE GLOBE THE WORLDWIDE RACING SCENE

NORT H A MER ICA

by Steve Andersen

GEORGE SELWYN

Fatalities force NYRA to act

Racing at Aqueduct during its winter season is restricted to the dirt track

T

he winter season at Aqueduct racetrack in New York cannot end fast enough. A series of 14 equine fatalities in the first 28 days of racing on the track’s inner dirt surface, from December 3 to mid-January, cast the sport in a negative light and led to tougher criteria on what horses would be eligible to race.

On January 22, the New York Racing Association, in conjunction with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, enacted policies designed to improve safety. Horses were required to have a 14-day break between races; horses beaten 25 lengths or more were required to have a subsequent half-mile workout in a time of 53 seconds or quicker before being reinstated to race; and the bottom value of claiming races for maiden was raised from $12,500 to $16,000. In addition, the number of races run on weekdays was reduced by one per day, from nine to eight.

Quickly, the policy of a 14-day break between starts was met with objections by trainers and backfired on the racetrack. Days after implementing the policy, the track’s racing department erroneously accepted entries on eight horses for the January 25 programme that had started exactly 14 days earlier. Those horses were withdrawn by track stewards, leaving small fields in several races.

“We can’t renege on the rule,” Martin Panza, the Senior Vice-President of racing at NYRA, said at the time. Track officials emphasized that THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

the 14-day rule was temporary but did not state when it would be lifted.

The fatalities that led to the policy changes ranged from bone injuries suffered in a race to horses euthanised as a result of injuries sustained in a spill. One horse died of an apparent cardiac incident.

Aqueduct’s winter campaign is the least glamorous season of year-round racing in New York, which includes meetings at Belmont Park

“The policy of a

14-day break between starts was met with objections by trainers” and Saratoga and is operated by NYRA. During the Aqueduct winter season, racing is conducted strictly on a one-mile inner dirt track, without turf racing. A majority of the races are run at six furlongs to a mile.

While purses in New York have soared in recent years because of revenue from a casino adjacent to Aqueduct, the bulk of the higher prize-money has been dedicated to the

Aqueduct spring meeting, the Belmont Park spring and autumn meetings and the immensely popular Saratoga meeting in upstate New York in August.

Still, the Aqueduct winter meeting has competitive purses with other American tracks, with stakes at $100,000 or more and maiden special weight races worth $55,000 for statebreds.

During the winter, the prize-money goes to a wide variety of owners and trainers. Several of the most prominent trainers in New York from the spring through the autumn, such as Chad Brown, Christophe Clement, Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher, have smaller stables on the circuit during the winter, or none at all, while relocating to Gulfstream Park in Florida.

Bad luck has not been restricted to injuries.

There have been a series of cancelled race programmes because of poor weather, which is not uncommon for the time of year. In January, seven of 23 race programmes were cancelled because of weather, and another was abandoned after two races because of poor conditions.

Weather conditions will improve as the spring approaches. In April, racing at Aqueduct shifts to the outer dirt track, which is nine furlongs in circumference, and a month of racing that will include races on the sevenfurlong turf course and higher stakes purses. It will be a welcome change before the springsummer meeting at Belmont Park.

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Mar_127_AroundtheGlobe_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 13:48 Page 44

AROUND THE GLOBE

AU S T RA L IA

by Danny Power

Leaders clash over cobalt cases The industry was rocked in January when Racing Victoria announced a stewards’ inquiry into a spate of cobalt positive swabs that included three of Australia’s top trainers – Peter Moody, Danny O’Brien and Mark Kavanagh.

The horses involved were from the 2014 spring carnival and included O’Brien’s Bondeiger, after he finished second in the Group 1 Victoria Derby at Flemington on November 1, and Moody’s imported Lidari, who was second behind Lucia Valentina in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on October 4.

Racing Victoria has quadrupled the size of its investigation unit to expedite a quick resolution to the enquiry. At the time of going to print, none of the Victorian trainers, including fatherson partnership of Lee and Shannon Hope, have been charged with any offence.

On January 1, the Australian Racing Board introduced a rule that mirrored Victoria’s threshold on cobalt, but in December also gave warnings about the use of some supplements that include cobalt as an ingredient.

The ATA believe Racing Victoria should have issued similar warnings back in April, and that failing to do so has threatened the livelihood of its members.

“While the ARB saw fit to issue such an explicit warning with the introduction of the rule in December 2014, we cannot understand why Racing Victoria did not issue similar advice and warnings to trainers with the introduction of the Victorian Rule of Racing in April 2014,” the ATA statement reads.

“As the principal racing authority, it is both incumbent upon, and the responsibility of, Racing Victoria to provide as much advice and information to trainers when new rules are introduced. This must be done at all times.

“The reputations and careers of all participants must be foremost, as should the image of the racing industry. In this instance we strongly support our members under investigation, and reiterate the absolute necessity to apply the fundamental rights of the presumption of innocence to them.”

The ATA also said it was disappointed that Racing Victoria has declined a formal request to provide an explanation as to why no advice warnings were issued.

The Victorian trainers, particularly O’Brien and Moody, have made statements saying that the feeding and supplement regime in their stables hasn’t changed in recent years and that the mineral wasn’t injected on its own into Danny O’Brien: under the microscope

44

their horses, only as part of normal vitamin B12 injections to balance the blood profiles.

Cobalt surfaced as an issue in racing in the USA in 2013 and last year in Australian harness racing. Cobalt is the active centre of coenzymes called cobalamins, the most common example of which is vitamin B12. As such it is an essential trace dietary mineral for all animals.

The human body produces cobalt naturally, but horses (as with other animals with a rumen, such as sheep and cattle) need to ingest cobalt through natural feed or mineral supplements which is converted into vitamin B12 within the rumen. High levels of cobalt results in the body being tricked into thinking that the blood is low

“Racing Victoria has quadrupled the size of its investigation unit to expedite a quick resolution”

on red blood cells, and subsequently begins to produce oxygen-carrying red cells. In humans, this is believed to have a similar effect to using EPO – the drug that caused a scandal in professional cycling.

There are concerns that high levels of cobalt, which thickens the blood, eventually results in heart damage, and some unexplained deaths of horses in the USA have been blamed on the possible over-use of cobalt.

Cobalt isn’t just a Victorian problem. On January 30, Queensland Racing announced that six trainers (three thoroughbred and three harness) are facing bans over high cobalt readings. No names have been provided.

Rumours are rife that New South Wales, after going back through frozen samples, may also have had some cobalt positives, and this heightened on February 14 when Racing NSW Chief stipendiary Steward, Ray Murrihy, refused to comment on the mounting speculation.

Racing NSW has charged Newcastle trainer Darren Smith with 20 cases from last year, involving 17 horses that raced with high levels of cobalt in their system; 11 of the horses won.

Smith is the first Australian trainer charged with an offence relating to cobalt. He has admitted to using the supplement and was due to face an inquiry on February 24.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

EMMA BERRY

In a further twist to the on-going cobalt story that has engulfed Australian racing, the Australian Trainers’ Association (ATA) has come out on the attack against Racing Victoria over what it claims was a “lack of communication” to its members.

The ATA issued a statement on February 13 that criticised Racing Victoria for not providing advice and information about the use of cobalt as a mineral supplement when a local rule was introduced, in April 2014, that set a cobalt threshold limit of 200 milograms per litre of urine.

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Mar_127_TalkingToV2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:43 Page 46

TALKING TO...

OLIVER SHERWOOD

Oliver’s hungry for

MORE

His successful association with the Cheltenham Festival dates back to the 1970s but Oliver Sherwood is not content to dwell on past glories – a victory in jump racing’s blue riband would represent a crowning achievement for the Lambourn trainer

By Tim Richards • Photos George Selwyn

C

an you recall the outstanding or earliest racing memories of your youth?

My first recollections are aged six, watching my father ride in point-to-points. He owned the Marks Tey point-to-point near Colchester and my mother was a member at Cheltenham and she used to take us there regularly. I can’t remember the actual horses but I was impressed by the big crowds and amazing atmosphere, which got to me then and still does now.

Having the experience of working as an amateur rider and assistant trainer with Gavin Pritchard-Gordon, Arthur Moore and Fred Winter makes for an impressive CV. What did you take from this celebrated trio?

Patience with a young horse and I’d like to think a good eye for a store horse. In those days you very rarely bought horses from France, perhaps just an occasional Flat horse. In the main you went for the untried individual. I think I learnt from them what to look for in a young horse.

My initiation was with Gavin, who trained the odd homebred for Dad. I went there to do my three and ride out and really discover if I liked racing. Gavin’s wife, Coral, got me a job with Arthur Moore, with whom I spent six very happy years. Then gossip got out that Nicky Henderson, Fred Winter’s assistant, was going to start training so I was straight on the phone to Fred to try and get the job. He insisted that I brought a “bloody good horse” with me. That happened to be Venture To Cognac, and it was as if all my dreams had come true when I won the 1979 Sun Alliance Hurdle and the 1984 Foxhunter at Cheltenham on him.

46

Fred Winter was a legendary figure, both as a fearless champion jockey and champion trainer. Have any of his oldschool habits and methods rubbed off on the modern-day trainer?

Training methods changed through the Pipe era of interval training, but Fred used to stress that routine and attention to detail were important elements. He always said if you’ve had success with what you’ve been doing then don’t change things, even when results aren’t going your way.

By all means tweak a few things each year, but stick to the original routine. That was Fred, day in day out, meticulous in everything he did.

“I take my hat off to

Willie Mullins – his stable is a challenge but you have to step up and take him on” Actually I’ve had a fair few assistants myself: Ben Case, Donald McCain, Tony Martin, Charlie Longsdon, John Durkan, who bought Istabraq, and Warren Greatrex is the latest. Clive Cox was my conditional for several years. There are times when I’m a touch envious of all their successes, but then I feel proud that they must have learnt something in their time at Rhonehurst.

You have trained six Festival winners, but Many Clouds, at January’s Festival

Trials meeting, was your first success at the course for 14 years. Did the winnerless run become a hang-up?

Yes, it was annoying. But hopefully if you keep on throwing enough darts at the board you eventually hit the bullseye. Deputy Dan was second in the Albert Bartlett last year and we’ve had plenty of placed horses, but not winners. In time it was going to come, and what a way to do it. I certainly don’t want to wait another 14 years!

How does the Cheltenham Festival affect you personally – do you get on edge during the build-up?

I get twitchy, but not on edge. It is important not to be visibly nervous because you then transfer your feelings to your staff and the horses. I am a great believer in the philosophy that if you have happy lads you have happy horses. Even if I am a bit tense underneath it is very important not to show it. Frankly, you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t get a little bit nervy before a meeting like Cheltenham, not so much the day before, more like ten days to a week before during all the build-up. I suppose I am a little bit superstitious about saluting magpies and walking under ladders and I don’t like wearing green ties or green shirts when I’m going racing.

There’s a wonderful story of you and Alan King making a date to watch the Gold Cup together over a drink in the owners’ and trainers’ bar…

Generally I like to watch my horses run on my own. But this time I happened to go to the bar and was sitting on my own when ‘Kingy’ walked

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

>>

Mar_127_TalkingToV2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:44 Page 47

Oliver Sherwood, who learnt his trade under Fred Winter, is excited about the chances of Many Clouds in this year’s “extremely open” Gold Cup

Mar_127_TalkingToV2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:44 Page 48

OLIVER SHERWOOD

‘Gentle giant’ has Golden chance Many Clouds is only eight and, in his determined, never-say-die style of racing, seems to be enjoying himself. How do you keep him sweet and his confidence up?

His natural demeanour is that of the proverbial gentle giant. He has always been a very happy horse and regularly goes out in the paddock. He is not exuberant, just takes a nice pull at home. All trainers will tell you it’s a question of getting into their minds and getting to know them, and Many Clouds will tell us when he is ready. There are little tell-tale signs with him being keen at home and Nathan Horrocks, who rides him every day, knows him inside out. If he’s not a happy horse that’s the signal something might be wrong.

Was it always apparent that Many Clouds had what it takes to reach the top rank?

From day one when he won his bumper at Wetherby we always knew he was good.

You start dreaming, but never think they’ll be as good as Many Clouds has turned out to be. I was always adamant that fences would be the making of him. He travels so well in a race and, touch wood, his jumping has got better and better and comes with this never-say-die attitude of his. Yes, I do think the Gold Cup is extremely open if you take the favourite Silviniaco Conti out of the race. Paul Nicholls’s horse deserves his position at the head of the market, but

>> in and bought me a drink as I’d bought him one

before racing. The field got to the top of the hill last time round and we realised we were both in with a squeak, his Smad Place against Many Clouds. In the excitement my vodka started spilling out of my glass and his white wine was shaking all over the place. It was humbling, it was fun and we decided if both horses make it to Cheltenham we’ll meet there again for the Gold Cup. How do you view the apparent domination of the Willie Mullins runners at this year’s Festival?

I think domination is too strong a word in this instance, but I take my hat off to Willie. I used to ride against him when I was in Ireland and he is an exceptionally nice man and a top-class trainer. I am not sure how his fellow Irish trainers view the situation over there with him winning so many of the top races. But I see him coming here with such a strong hand for the Festival as a challenge and we have to step up to the mark and take

48

I think Paul would agree that he has got to prove himself round Cheltenham.

Puffin Billy and Deputy Dan are other Festival possibles, although both have had their issues over fences. Do you still retain all your faith in them?

I definitely have the utmost faith in them; they don’t become bad horses overnight. I accept they have had their issues and they are both still learning their trade over fences. It is up to me and my team to iron them out and I am convinced they will both come good, whether it’s this year or next.

They are both rated 140-plus. Deputy Dan lost a bit of confidence and we might put a bit of headgear on him; not that he’s ungenuine, just to make him concentrate. At this stage it is difficult to say whether he or Puffin Billy will go to Cheltenham.

Many Clouds (noseband) jumps the last ahead of Smad Place (centre) and Dynaste to win the Betbright Cup Chase at Cheltenham in January, and below with Sherwood at Rhonehurst

Mar_127_TalkingToV2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:44 Page 49

OLIVER SHERWOOD

him on. Anyway, I always believe you should never be frightened of one horse in a race.

Is it good for National Hunt racing that all roads lead to the Festival from day one of each season?

I think it is very healthy and I suspect it is something the Flat folk are a little jealous of. I know there are several individual festivals on the Flat but nothing like Cheltenham. The fact that so many Flat trainers and jockeys go there every year tells you something, doesn’t it? It’s ideal that the Festival is at the end of the season and creating a wonderful climax to the winter.

Having said that, I do think there is more to life than Cheltenham. It is so competitive a horse can run out of its skin to finish fifth or sixth, but realistically you could have waited and possibly picked up a 50-grand race somewhere else the following Saturday. But everybody is very THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

envious of that unique feeling when the flag goes up for the first race at the Festival; the whole occasion – socially, professionally, every which way – you cannot beat it.

After Many Clouds won the Hennessy you were inundated with congratulations from all sorts of wellwishers. Why did that victory mean so much to you and your team?

It was one of the best days in my professional career. Both my wife, Tarnya, and I found the whole occasion very humbling. After that lull in our career it proved we can still do the business, but you have to remember you’re only as good as the horses you’ve got. It was fantastic that most of my team who were working that weekend were there to lift Leighton [Aspell] aloft with the Gold Cup. There is great camaraderie in Lambourn, though I do

remember immediately after Large Action finished second to Kim Bailey’s Alderbrook in the Champion Hurdle there were about 30 seconds when I could have rung Kim’s neck, because it was so painful finishing second. But then afterwards we celebrated together and of course it was good for Lambourn - where Kim was training at the time - which had been going through a bit of a lull until the Jockey Club bought the gallops. Now the place is going great guns.

What do you make of Many Clouds’ 38-year-old jockey Leighton Aspell retiring and then coming back better than ever?

It came as a bit of a shock when he said he wanted to take a break from riding. But he’s back and is an exceptional horseman. All right, he’s not a ‘sexy’ jockey like some of them are.

49

>>

Mar_127_TalkingToV2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:44 Page 50

OLIVER SHERWOOD >> But he gets on with the job and is up here every

Thursday morning and is a real team player.

With him the horse always comes first. After riding a horse for half an hour he’ll tell you more about it than most people would tell you in six months. He goes under the radar a bit with the press. He just does what it says on the tin and gets on with the job he does so well.

His confidence has grown with his recent success; good horses make good jockeys. If you’re riding winners your confidence grows and with Leighton you can see it in his personality. He used to be quite shy but is much more outgoing now. Having winners gives anyone confidence. It’s like a cricketer who can’t score runs or a footballer who can’t score goals; once they start scoring they find themselves in a good place. It’s the same for jockeys, trainers, any of us.

In December 2012 you said you “felt like packing up” after being fined following the run of Furrows at Hereford. How disappointed were you at having your appeal dismissed and how serious were you about quitting?

I was very disappointed. The horse hasn’t won since that race and he wouldn’t have won that day, however he had been ridden. I know the stewards have a job to do and maybe it didn’t look very good. We are not a betting yard and would do only what is best for the horse. I was never going to pack in; it was my anger coming out on the spur of the moment. I can’t do anything else, anyway!

You enjoyed plenty of success with Jamie Osborne in the 1990s with horses of the calibre of Large Action and Berude Not To, but the following decade was nowhere near as good for you. Can you put your finger on why?

The quality of the string was a huge factor. We lost a lot of our owners. Christopher Heath, the boss of Barings Securities and owner of The West Awake and Rebel Song, had about 15 horses with me at one stage and they all went within 12 months following the problems with Barings. It was also the combination of the economic downturn. Having said that, I am not very good at selling myself and sitting around in nightclubs trying to find owners.

CLOSE UP AND...

PERSONAL Describe yourself in five words… honest, competitive, tidy, modest, bald My favourite meal… spring lamb, new potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli Four dinner party guests… Jose Mourinho, Nelson Mandela, Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz Person I would most like to meet… Muhammad Ali I am annoyed by… bad manners and poor time-keeping

What did it mean to you when Financial Climate gave you your 1,000th winner at Chepstow on February 11?

It was a special day. I was delighted for everyone at home; every trainer says it but I’ve got a great team. I don’t think I’ll get the 2,000, though! It’s been a great 30 years and long may it continue.

CLOSE UP AND...

PROFESSIONAL

A keen cricketer, you have captained the Lambourn Trainers XI. Do you still play?

I do play a bit, though Sunday racing has curtailed those activities a bit. But I did love playing against Josh Gifford and William Haggas in Newmarket, both very competitive. I enjoy watching cricket and I’m very lucky that Tarnya loves it too; we’ll be off to Lord’s to watch the

I handle defeat by… doing something completely different like watching a film

My racing hero is… Vincent O’Brien and Fred Winter Star of the future… budding jockeys Tom and Ed Greatrex, Warren’s twin sons

Favourite track… Newbury and Fontwell Most talented horse I’ve trained… Large Action

Australians this summer. I have been a Chelsea fan since my schooldays and still go to Stamford Bridge. I shoot, play a bit of golf and am going to some of the Six Nations rugby this year.

What is your biggest complaint about the way racing is run?

One thing that does drive me up the wall is all the arguing amongst everybody. All the different factions are thinking of themselves rather than the good of racing. The press in general bugs me because there is so much negativity, but then that seems to sell papers. I am not really into the politics of racing, but finance and prize-money will always rear its ugly head. I am not making money out of training and I struggled big time when we were down in numbers, but racing is like a disease and you can’t shake it off because you love the game so much.

Sherwood with head lad Brian Delaney and Fred Winter (right) at Uplands in 1979

50

What is your abiding Festival memory, and why was it so special?

Training a double in 1988 when The West Awake and Rebel Song won the Sun Alliance Chase and Sun Alliance Hurdle for Christopher and Maggie Heath and ridden by my brother Simon. That was a very special day, though I probably didn’t appreciate it at the time. Two very good horses and not a bad jockey!

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Mar_127_IrishOwners_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:24 Page 53

IRELAND’S LEADING OWNERS

Let battle

COMMENCE They are a force to be reckoned with in Ireland and now the country’s top owners are heading to Cheltenham with an army of top-class talent at their disposal

I

reland’s leading owners are coming. And they are very unlikely to leave the fantastic four days of the Cheltenham Festival empty-handed.

It does not matter how many horses you have got. A winner at the Festival is craved by big and small fish alike. But the bigger you are, and the more horses you have, the better your chances of landing a catch.

They don’t come any bigger than JP McManus, whose 41 winners at jump racing’s Olympics is a whopping 30 more than the next best current owner.

McManus, though, is far from the only ultrapowerful owner seeking to give his homeland more winners at Cheltenham this month, with the Gigginstown House Stud operation bidding to add to its 11 winners at the meeting, having enjoyed a magnificent final day of the 2014 Festival, when they fired in an incredible four winners.

Other Irish owners – or those who mainly have their horses trained in the country – who will be hoping to muscle in on the four days include Barry Connell, Dr Ronan Lambe and Rich Ricci.

Ireland plundered 12 of the Festival’s 27 contests last year, following a record 14 the

previous year, while they notched 13 in 2011.

So if three of the last four Festivals are a good guide to where the winners will come from this month, we should be expecting the Irish tricolour to be frequently photographed.

As for the owners behind the flag waving, here’s the lowdown on a famous five…

JP McMANUS

Festival winners: 41 Strike one: Mister Donovan, 1982 ‘Neptune’ Hurdle, trained by Edward O’Grady Championship hits: Champion Hurdle with Istabraq (1997, 1998, 1999), Binocular (2010) and Jezki (2014); Gold Cup with Synchronised (2012) Go-to jockey: AP McCoy Top trainer: Jonjo O’Neill Best price to be leading owner: 5-2 2015 team: With More Of That unlikely to be able to defend his World Hurdle title, the onus falls on Jezki to follow up last year’s Champion Hurdle triumph, while Carlingford Lough would bring the house down if successful under the retiring AP McCoy in the Gold Cup.

JP McManus’s Carlingford Lough (below, right) bids for Gold Cup glory

In a nutshell: That first Festival victory reputedly won the owner £250,000, and he has enjoyed many successful tilts at the ring over the last 30-plus years, though he claims to bet little and infrequently these days. He is the biggest owner in jumps racing by any factor you care to name. He is already well past the 1,000-runner mark for the season in Ireland and Britain combined, and in terms of winners in Ireland he has already set a personal record, breaking the 100-winner barrier for the first time.

The 2014 Sunday Times Rich List estimated his fortune at £550 million, so to say he can afford to indulge in his passion, off the back of his shrewdness as a businessman, is a massive understatement. His speciality is international finance, especially currency trading, but he has a host of business interests. He is philanthropic, undoubtedly to a greater extent than is publicly known. His retained rider McCoy is soon to retire. There will be no shortage of interest from those looking to succeed him.

What he says: “I try to have the horses trained for Cheltenham if they are good enough.

We try to peak for it. It’s not always the ones that you expect that go in. I am always happy to have one winner; it’s something to be cherished.

Better it comes the first day, then you have a week to celebrate it!”

53

>>

Mar_127_IrishOwners_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:22 Page 54

IRELAND’S LEADING OWNERS >>

GIGGINSTOWN HOUSE STUD

Festival winners: 11 Strike one: War Of Attrition, 2006 Gold Cup, trained by Mouse Morris Championship hits: As above Go-to jockey: Bryan Cooper Top trainer: Gordon Elliott Best price to be leading owner: 5-2 2015 team: Hopes for a second Gold Cup rest with Road To Riches, the Lexus Chase winner who is generally second favourite behind Silviniaco Conti. Don Cossack (Ryanair) and Don Poli (RSA) are leading fancies as well from this powerful operation.

In a nutshell: Unlike McManus, Michael O’Leary, who with his brother Eddie runs Gigginstown, is better known for being something other than a racehorse owner; he is, of course, the boss of budget airline Ryanair.

Among the airline’s co-founders was Tony Ryan, whom O’Leary had met while working at the firm that was to become KPMG. Gigginstown House Stud is part of his estate near the town of Mullingar, an hour away from Dublin.

Mullingar is central to his attachment to racing.

The maroon and white that his jockeys wear come from the county football team. He grew up on a farm there, his father Ted having also once owned racehorses. O’Leary purchased his first around 15 years ago, and his second, War Of Attrition, won the Gold Cup. His operation goes head to head with McManus in the owners’ championship race in Ireland, and at the time of writing is leading the way this term with 100-plus winners and more than €2 million in prize-money.

What he says (Michael O’Leary): “This meeting is a big deal for everybody in Ireland. It’s Cheltenham, this is the home of jump racing and every horse we buy, every horse we run in Ireland all winter long – everybody wants to come to Cheltenham. I’ll never forget the last day in 2014 – it was incredible.”

Michael O’Leary enjoys Weapons Amnesty’s Festival strike in the 2010 RSA Chase

SUSANNAH RICCI

Festival winners: 5 Strike one: Mikael D’Haguenet, 2009 Neptune Hurdle, trained

by Willie Mullins Championship hits: Yet to win championship race Go-to jockey: Ruby Walsh Top trainer: Willie Mullins Best price to be leading owner: 2-1 2015 team: In Faugheen (Champion Hurdle), Douvan (Supreme) and Annie Power (probably Mares’ Hurdle), Rich Ricci and wife Susannah have three of the likeliest hurdling winners at the meeting, while Vautour is favourite for the JLT Novices’ Chase.

In a nutshell: The horses run in his wife’s silks, but it is Mr Ricci, an American banker, who funds and is the driving force of their ownership interests. These include the two most sensational winners of the 2014 Festival, Faugheen and Vautour, who are again among the Riccis’ formidable team.

Rich Ricci is the former head of Barclays’ investment banking arm and was not often out of the news a few years back, at the height of the credit crisis that engulfed the banking sector. He was born on the eastern seaboard of the United States and educated at Creighton University in Nebraska, where he graduated with a degree in finance. Ricci went into banking and moved to Barclays in 1994. He lives in Kent, though has all his horses trained

by Willie Mullins in Ireland. He has a reputation as something of a

Faugheen will bid to maintain his perfect

flamboyant character, but against that rarely gives interviews, values his privacy, is said not to have too many airs and graces and is understood to like a bet.

What he says: “Although it is difficult to win at the Festival, losing hurts twice as much when you go with one you think has an excellent chance, like Pont Alexandre. I enjoy the social aspect of it. We tend to host between ten and 12 people every day. I used to take clients there but now it’s mostly friends.”

Barry Connell with trainer Ted Walsh and Irish Hennessy runner-up Foxrock

Mar_127_IrishOwners_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:23 Page 55

IRELAND’S LEADING OWNERS DR RONAN LAMBE

racing record in the Champion Hurdle for owner Rich Ricci (inset) on the opening day

BARRY CONNELL

Festival winners: 1 Strike one: Pedrobob, 2007 County Hurdle, trained by Tony Mullins Championship hits: Yet to win championship race Go-to jockey: Adrian Heskin Top trainer: Shark Hanlon Best price to be leading owner: 100-1 2015 team: The Tullow Tank and Martello Tower represent Connell’s best chances of a second strike at the Festival, although at the time of going to press it was being discussed whether to supplement the Hennessy runner-up Foxrock to the Gold Cup. In a nutshell: Jockeys can take it as read that this is an owner who knows what he is talking about. Connell used to ride his own bumper horses, and has twice been successful at Cheltenham’s November meeting.

Our Conor was his owner’s big hope of a second winner at the Festival last year, but tragedy struck when the fiveyear-old suffered a fatal fall in the Champion Hurdle.

Connell’s calling was business. He completed THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

a Master’s at UCD and went on to work for NCB Stockbrokers. He left after 13 years with some other colleagues to form a new firm, Merrion Capital. He has owned racehorses since the late 1980s but it is only in the past few seasons he has surged up the owners’ standings. Last October he showed something of a ruthless streak in sacking Danny Mullins as retained jockey and replacing him with Adrian Heskin.

What he says: “You are paying the same to keep a good horse in training as a bad one so it makes financial sense to buy better horses. It’s like an investment strategy for the stock market – run the winners and cut the losers. I enjoy the social scene and get on with all the trainers I have horses with.”

Lord Windermere is owned by Dr Ronan Lambe (below)

Festival winners: 4 Strike one: Lord Windermere, 2013 RSA Chase, trained by Jim Culloty Championship hits: Gold Cup with Lord Windermere (2014) Go-to jockey: Davy Russell Top trainer: Jim Culloty Best price to be leading owner: Not quoted 2015 team: Lord Windermere has been steadily improving this season and he looks to have a reasonable chance of defending his Gold Cup crown in what appears a wide-open contest. Windsor Park and Silver Concorde could each contest a novice hurdle and have fair prospects.

In a nutshell: After many years of waiting for a Festival winner, he has now had four in two years, including a splendid treble in 2014 topped by a dramatic Gold Cup victory for Lord Windermere. His main man over jumps is Culloty, but Dermot Weld has also won major races for the owner on the Flat and over jumps, most notably the Ascot Gold Cup of 2010 with Rite Of Passage. His first winner was, curiously, ridden by Culloty and trained by Weld – Zeroberto at the 2004 Galway festival.

Lambe is one of his country’s wealthiest drugcompany entrepreneurs, co-founding Icon plc, which is a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.

He served as chairman of Icon from June 1990 to November 2002, and he has been a nonexecutive director since January 2008. He attended the National University of Ireland, where he received his BSc in Chemistry, MSc in Biochemistry, and PhD in Pharmacology, in 1959, 1962 and 1976 respectively.

What he says: “It’s very difficult to sum up winning the Ascot Gold Cup and Cheltenham Gold Cup. They’re both among the best races in the world, there’s very little between them. Jim Culloty struggled a little bit to begin with but he has been doing fantastic with a small string.”

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EBF S TA L L I O N S

A ABBASHIVA (GER) ACCLAMATION (GB) ADELPHOS (FR) ADLERFLUG (GER) AGENT SECRET (IRE) AIKEN (GB) AIR CHIEF MARSHAL (IRE) AIZAVOSKI (IRE) AL KAZEEM (GB) AL NAMIX (FR) ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (IRE) ALEX THE WINNER (USA) ALEXANDROS (GB) ALFRED NOBEL (IRE) ALIANTHUS (GER) ALKAADHEM (GB) ALKAASED (USA) AMADEUS WOLF (GB) AMERICAN POST (GB) AMICO FRITZ (GER) ANABAA BLUE (GB) AND BEYOND (IRE) ANDROID (USA) ANGE GABRIEL (FR) APPLE TREE (FR) APPROVE (IRE) APSIS (GB) ARABIAN GLEAM (GB) ARAKAN (USA) ARC ROYAL (GER) ARCADIO (GER) ARCANO (IRE) ARCHANGE D’OR (IRE) ARCHIPENKO (USA) ARCTIC COSMOS (USA) AREION (GER) ARMY KING (FR) ART CONNOISSEUR (IRE) ARVICO (FR) ASK (GB) ASSERTIVE (GB) AUGUSTA NATIONAL (IRE) AUSSIE RULES (USA) AUTHORIZED (IRE) AVONBRIDGE (GB) AXXOS (GER) AZAMOUR (IRE) B BACH (IRE) BAHAMIAN BOUNTY (GB) BAHRI (USA) BALKO (FR) BALLINGARRY (IRE) BALTIC KING (GB) BANNABY (FR) BARASTRAIGHT (GB) BARELY A MOMENT (AUS) BASHKIROV (GB) BATED BREATH (GB) BEAT ALL (USA) BEAT HOLLOW (GB) BIG BAD BOB (IRE) BLACK SAM BELLAMY (IRE) BLEK (FR) BLU AIR FORCE (IRE)

BLUE BRESIL (FR) BLUE CANARI (FR) BLUE CORAL (IRE) BOBY DI JOB (BRZ) BOLLIN ERIC (GB) BONBON ROSE (FR) BORIS DE DEAUVILLE (IRE) BORN KING (JPN) BORN TO SEA (IRE) BRAVE MANSONNIEN (FR) BRETIGNY (FR) BRIAN BORU (GB) BRUSCO (GB) BULLY PULPIT (USA) C CACIQUE (IRE) CALIFET (FR) CALL ME BIG (GER) CALLEJERO (ARG) CALMING INFLUENCE (IRE) CAMACHO (GB) CAMELOT (GB) CAMPANOLOGIST (USA) CANFORD CLIFFS (IRE) CANYON CREEK (IRE) CAPE CROSS (IRE) CAPTAIN CHOP (FR) CAPTAIN GERRARD (IRE) CAPTAIN MARVELOUS (IRE) CARADAK (IRE) CARLOTAMIX (FR) CASAMENTO (IRE) CAT JUNIOR (USA) CENTENNIAL (IRE) CHAMPS ELYSEES (GB) CHICHI CREASY (FR) CHOISIR (AUS) CHOPIN (SWI) CIMA DE TRIOMPHE (IRE) CITYSCAPE (GB) CLASSIC LAW (GB) CLODOVIL (IRE) CLOUDINGS (IRE) CLOUSEAU (DEN) COASTAL PATH (GB) COCKNEY REBEL (IRE) COKORIKO (FR) COLORADO KID (USA) COMPTON PLACE (GB) CONILLON (GER) CONTAT (GER) COURT CAVE (IRE) CREACHADOIR (IRE) CRILLON (FR) CROCO ROUGE (IRE) CROSSHARBOUR (GB) CURTAIN TIME (IRE) D DABIRSIM (FR) DAHJEE (USA) DALAKHANI (IRE) DANDY MAN (IRE) DANSANT (GB) DANSILI (GB) DAPPER (GB) DARK ANGEL (IRE)

Published here is the Final List of European stallions registered in full with the EBF for the 2014 covering season.

The progeny of these stallions, CONCEIVED IN 2014 IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, (the foal crop of 2015) will be eligible to enter the EBF races to be held during the year 2017 and thereafter. terms and conditions in force in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

DARSALAM (IRE) DARSI (FR) DAVIDOFF (GER) DAWN APPROACH (IRE) DAY FLIGHT (GB) DECLARATION OF WAR (USA) DELEGATOR (GB) DELLA FRANCESCA (USA) DENHAM RED (FR) DENON (USA) DENOUNCE (GB) DEPORTIVO (GB) DESERT BLANC (GB) DESIDERATUM (GB) DIAMOND BOY (FR) DIAMOND GREEN (FR) DICK TURPIN (IRE) DIOGENES (IRE) DISTANT MUSIC (USA) DISTANT PEAK (IRE) DOCTOR DINO (FR) DOMEDRIVER (IRE) DONCASTER ROVER (USA) DOUBLE ECLIPSE (IRE) DOYEN (IRE) DR MASSINI (IRE) DRAGON DANCER (GB) DRAGON PULSE (IRE) DREAM AHEAD (USA) DREAM EATER (IRE) DREAM WELL (FR) DUBAI DESTINATION (USA) DUBAWI (IRE) DUKE OF MARMALADE (IRE) DUNKERQUE (FR) DURANTE ALIGHIERI (GB) DUTCH ART (GB) DYLAN THOMAS (IRE) E EASTERN ANTHEM (IRE) EGERTON (GER) ELASOS (FR) ELECTRIC BEAT (GB) ELNADIM (USA) ELUSIVE CITY (USA) ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL (USA) ELZAAM (AUS) ENRIQUE (GB) EPAULETTE (AUS) EQUIANO (FR) EREWHON (USA) ERHAAB (USA) EVASIVE (GB) EXCEED AND EXCEL (AUS) EXCELEBRATION (IRE) EXECUTE (FR) F FAIR MIX (IRE) FAIRLY RANSOM (USA) FALCO (USA) FAME AND GLORY (GB) FAMOUS NAME (GB) FARHH (GB) FAST AND FURIOUS (FR) FAST COMPANY (IRE) FASTNET ROCK (AUS)

FEEL LIKE DANCING (GB) FIGHT CLUB (GER) FINE GRAIN (JPN) FINJAAN (GB) FINSCEAL FIOR (IRE) FIREBREAK (GB) FLAMINGO FANTASY (GER) FLEMENSFIRTH (USA) FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND (GB) FOUR STAR GENERAL (IRE) FOXWEDGE (AUS) FRACAS (IRE) FRAGRANT MIX (IRE) FRAMMASSONE (IRE) FRANKEL (GB) FRANKLINS GARDENS (GB) FRENCH FIFTEEN (FR) FROZEN FIRE (GER) FROZEN POWER (IRE) FRUITS OF LOVE (USA) FUISSE (FR) FULL OF GOLD (FR) FUMARELLI (USA) G GALILEO (IRE) GAMUT (IRE) GENTLEWAVE (IRE) GEORDIELAND (FR) GEORGE VANCOUVER (USA) GETAWAY (GER) GLOR NA MARA (IRE) GOLDEN LARIAT (USA) GOLDEN TORNADO (IRE) GOLDMARK (USA) GOODRICKE (GB) GREAT JOURNEY (JPN) GREAT PRETENDER (IRE) GRIS DE GRIS (IRE) H HAAFHD (GB) HAATEF (USA) HAIL (IRE) HALLING (USA) HAMOND (GER) HANNOUMA (IRE) HARBOUR WATCH (IRE) HAVANA GOLD (IRE) HELLVELYN (GB) HELMET (AUS) HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (USA) HERETIC (CZE) HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE) HIGH ROCK (IRE) HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR (IRE) HONOLULU (IRE) HURRICANE CAT (USA) HURRICANE RUN (IRE) I I WAS FRAMED (USA) IALYSOS (GR) IFFRAAJ (GB) IMPERIAL MONARCH (IRE) INDIAN DANEHILL (IRE) INDIAN HAVEN (GB) INDIAN SLY (FR) INTELLO (GER)

INTENSE FOCUS (USA) INTIKHAB (USA) INUVIK (AUS) INVINCIBLE SPIRIT (IRE) IRISH WELLS (FR) IRON MASK (USA) IT’S GINO (GER) J JAMMAAL (GB) JARN (GB) JEREMY (USA) JUKEBOX JURY (IRE) K KAIETEUR (USA) KALANISI (IRE) KALATOS (GER) KALLISTO (GER) KAMSIN (GER) KANDAHAR RUN (GB) KANDIDATE (GB) KAP ROCK (FR) KAPGARDE (FR) KARGALI (IRE) KAYF TARA (GB) KELTOS (FR) KENDARGENT (FR) KENTUCKY DYNAMITE (USA) KHALKEVI (IRE) KHELEYF (USA) KIER PARK (IRE) KINGSALSA (USA) KINGSFORT (USA) KISSING YOU (ARG) KODIAC (GB) KONIG SHUFFLE (GER) KONIG TURF (GER) KOUROUN (FR) KUTUB (IRE) KYLLACHY (GB) L LAURO (GER) LAVEROCK (IRE) LAWMAN (FR) LE CADRE NOIR (IRE) LE FOU (IRE) LE HAVRE (IRE) LE HOUSSAIS (FR) LE LOUP BLEU (FR) LEGOLAS (JPN) LEROIDESANIMAUX (BRZ) LETHAL FORCE (IRE) LIBRANNO (GB) LIBRETTIST (USA) LILBOURNE LAD (IRE) LINDA’S LAD (GB) LINNGARI (IRE) LITERATO (FR) LIZIO (GB) LOPE DE VEGA (IRE) LORD DU SUD (FR) LORD OF ENGLAND (GER) LORD SHANAKILL (USA) LOUP BRETON (IRE) LOVELACE (GB) LUCARNO (USA)

EBF S TA L L I O N S

EBF OB March 2015_EBF OB March 2015 20/02/2015 09:37 Page 2

M MABUCK (FR) MAGADAN (IRE) MAHLER (GB) MAIGURI (IRE) MAJOR CADEAUX (GB) MAKFI (GB) MALINAS (GER) MAMOOL (IRE) MANDURO (GER) MARESCA SORRENTO (FR) MARIYDI (IRE) MARTALINE (GB) MARTILLO (GER) MASTERCRAFTSMAN (IRE) MASTEROFTHEHORSE (IRE) MASTERSTROKE (USA) MATRIX (GER) MAWATHEEQ (USA) MAXIOS (GB) MAYSON (GB) MAZAMEER (IRE) MEDECIS (GB) MEDICEAN (GB) MESHAHEER (USA) MESNIL DES AIGLES (FR) MHARADONO (GER) MIDNIGHT LEGEND (GB) MIDSHIPS (USA) MIKHAIL GLINKA (IRE) MILAN (GB) MILANAIS (FR) MILK IT MICK (GB) MILLENARY (GB) MINASHKI (IRE) MINGUN (USA) MISTER FOTIS (USA) MISU BOND (IRE) MOHANDAS (FR) MONITOR CLOSELY (IRE) MONSIEUR BOND (IRE) MONTGOLFIER (GER) MONTMARTRE (FR) MORES WELLS (IRE) MOROZOV (USA) MOSS VALE (IRE) MOST IMPROVED (IRE) MOTIVATOR (GB) MOUNT NELSON (GB) MOUNTAIN HIGH (IRE) MOUNTAIN TOWN (USA) MR SIDNEY (USA) MUHAYMIN (USA) MUHTATHIR (GB) MUJAHID (USA) MULLIONMILEANHOUR (IRE) MULTIPLEX (GB) MUSTAMEET (USA) MY RISK (FR) MYBOYCHARLIE (IRE) N NAAQOOS (GB) NATHANIEL (IRE) NATIVE RULER (GB) NAYEF (USA) NETWORK (GER) NEVER ON SUNDAY (FR) NEW APPROACH (IRE) NEXT DESERT (IRE) NICARON (GER) NICOBAR (GB) NO RISK AT ALL (FR) NOM DE D’LA (FR) NORSE DANCER (IRE) NORTH LIGHT (IRE) NOTNOWCATO (GB) O OASIS DREAM (GB) OLDEN TIMES (GB)

ON EST BIEN (IRE) ORIENTOR (GB) ORPEN (USA) OSCAR (IRE) P PACO BOY (IRE) PACTE (FR) PALACE EPISODE (USA) PALAMOSS (IRE) PALAVICINI (USA) PANIS (USA) PAOLINI (GER) PAPAL BULL (GB) PASSING GLANCE (GB) PASTERNAK (GB) PASTORAL PURSUITS (GB) PASTORIUS (GER) PEDRO THE GREAT (USA) PEER GYNT (JPN) PEINTRE CELEBRE (USA) PENNY’S PICNIC (IRE) PHENOMENA (GB) PHOENIX REACH (IRE) PICCOLO (GB) PIRATEER (IRE) PIVON (IRE) PIVOTAL (GB) PLANTEUR (IRE) POET’S VOICE (GB) POLICY MAKER (IRE) POLIGLOTE (GB) POP ROCK (JPN) POSEIDON ADVENTURE (IRE) POUR MOI (IRE) POUVOIR ABSOLU (GB) POWER (GB) PRESENTING (GB) PRIMARY (USA) PRINCE FLORI (GER) PROCLAMATION (IRE) PUIT D’OR (IRE) PUSHKIN (IRE) R RACINGER (FR) RAIL LINK (GB) RAINWATCH (GB) RAJJ (IRE) RAJSAMAN (FR) RAVEN’S PASS (USA) RAY OF LIGHT (IRE) RECITAL (FR) RECKLESS ABANDON (GB) RED JAZZ (USA) RED ROCKS (IRE) REDBACK (GB) REDOUTE’S CHOICE (AUS) REEL BUDDY (USA) RELIABLE MAN (GB) REPLY (IRE) REQUINTO (IRE) RESPLENDENT CEE (IRE) RESPLENDENT GLORY (IRE) RIO DE LA PLATA (USA) RIP VAN WINKLE (IRE) ROB ROY (USA) ROBIN DES CHAMPS (FR) ROBIN DES PRES (FR) ROCAMADOUR (GB) ROCK OF GIBRALTAR (IRE) ROCKHILL (FR) RODERIC O’CONNOR (IRE) ROL’OVER BEETHOVEN (FR) ROSENSTURM (IRE) ROYAL APPLAUSE (GB) ROYAL ASSAULT (USA) ROYAL DE LA TOUR (FR) RUGBY (USA)

RULE OF LAW (USA) RUSSIAN TANGO (GER) S SABIANGO (GER) SADDEX (GB) SADDLER MAKER (IRE) SAGEBURG (IRE) SAINT DES SAINTS (FR) SAKHEE (USA) SAKHEE’S SECRET (GB) SALUTINO (GER) SAMUM (GER) SANDMASON (GB) SANDWAKI (USA) SANS FRONTIERES (IRE) SANTIAGO (GER) SAONOIS (FR) SARACENIAN (GB) SATRI (IRE) SAYIF (IRE) SCALO (GB) SCATER (POL) SCHIAPARELLI (GER) SCORPION (IRE) SEA THE STARS (IRE) SEA’S LEGACY (IRE) SECRET SINGER (FR) SEHREZAD (IRE) SEPOY (AUS) SEPTEMBER STORM (GER) SEVRES ROSE (IRE) SHAKESPEAREAN (IRE) SHAMALGAN (FR) SHAMARDAL (USA) SHANTARAM (GB) SHANTOU (USA) SHARPOUR (IRE) SHAWEEL (GB) SHIROCCO (GER) SHOLOKHOV (IRE) SHOWCASING (GB) SHREK (GER) SILVER FROST (IRE) SIMON IN BLUE (FR) SIMPLEX (FR) SINNDAR (IRE) SIR PERCY (GB) SIR PRANCEALOT (IRE) SIXTIES ICON (GB) SIYOUNI (FR) SLEEPING INDIAN (GB) SLICKLY (FR) SLICKLY ROYAL (FR) SMADOUN (FR) SO LONG SLEW (USA) SO YOU THINK (NZ) SOAVE (GER) SOCIETY ROCK (IRE) SOCR HOUSE (CZE) SOLDIER HOLLOW (GB) SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (IRE) SOLON (GER) SORDINO (GER) SOUL CITY (IRE) SOVIET STAR (USA) SPANISH MOON (USA) SPECIAL KALDOUN (IRE) SPIDER FLIGHT (FR) SPIRIT ONE (FR) SRI PUTRA (GB) STEELE TANGO (USA) STIMULATION (IRE) STORM MIST (IRE) STORM MOUNTAIN (IRE) STORMY JAIL (IRE) STORMY RIVER (FR) STOWAWAY (GB) STYLE VENDOME (FR) SULAMANI (IRE)

SUMITAS (GER) SUNDAY BREAK (JPN) SUTEKI SHINSUKEKUN (USA) SWISS SPIRIT (GB) T TAGULA (IRE) TAI CHI (GER) TAJRAASI (USA) TALE OF TWO CITIES (IRE) TAMAYUZ (GB) TAU CETI (GB) TEMPELTANZER (GER) TEOFILO (IRE) TERTULLIAN (USA) THE CARBON UNIT (USA) THEWAYYOUARE (USA) THOUSAND WORDS (GB) TIANTAI (USA) TIGER CAFE (JPN) TIGER GROOM (GB) TIGRON (USA) TIKKANEN (USA) TIMOS (GER) TIN HORSE (IRE) TOBOUGG (IRE) TONI BLUE (FR) TORLUS (GER) TOUCH OF LAND (FR) TOUGH AS NAILS (IRE) TRAJANO (USA) TRANQUIL TIGER (GB) TRANS ISLAND (GB) TREVIMIX (FR) TURGEON (USA) U UNIVERSAL (IRE) URBAN POET (USA) V VALE OF YORK (IRE) VASYWAIT (FR) VATORI (FR) VERTIGINEUX (FR) VESPONE (IRE) VINNIE ROE (IRE) VISION D’ETAT (FR) VITA ROSA (JPN) VITA VENTURI (IRE) VOCALISED (USA) VOL DE NUIT (GB) W WALK IN THE PARK (IRE) WAR BLADE (GER) WATAR (IRE) WAY OF LIGHT (USA) WELL CHOSEN (GB) WESTERNER (GB) WESTLAKE (GB) WHERE OR WHEN (IRE) WHIPPER (USA) WIENER WALZER (GER) WIESENPFAD (FR) WILLYWELL (FR) WINDSOR KNOT (IRE) WINGED LOVE (IRE) WOOTTON BASSETT (GB) WORTHADD (IRE) Y YEATS (IRE) YORGUNNABELUCKY (USA) YOUMZAIN (IRE) Z ZAFEEN (FR) ZAMBEZI SUN (GB) ZANZIBARI (USA) ZAREWITSCH (IRE) ZEBEDEE (GB) ZIZANY (IRE) ZOFFANY (IRE)

EBF INTERNATIONAL STALLIONS The stallions listed below stood OUTSIDE THE EBF AREA IN 2014 and have been registered as International Stallions for that year by reason of stallion nomination payments. The progeny of these stallions, CONCEIVED IN 2014, (the foal crop of 2015), will be eligible to enter and run in EBF races to be held during 2017, and thereafter, with no further payments.

Further details from the Chief Executive, European Breeders’ Fund.

STALLION

STANDS

CANDY RIDE (ARG) USA DAAHER (CAN) USA DAIWA MAJOR (JPN) JPN DEEP IMPACT (JPN) JPN ENGLISH CHANNEL (USA) USA FIRST DEFENCE (USA) USA HARBINGER (GB) JPN HEART’S CRY (JPN) JPN INVASOR (ARG) USA JAZIL (USA) USA KING KAMEHAMEHA (JPN) JPN KITTEN’S JOY (USA) USA LEMON DROP KID (USA)USA LORD KANALOA (JPN) JPN MIZZEN MAST (USA) USA NOVELLIST (IRE) JPN ORFEVRE (JPN) JPN RULERSHIP (JPN) JPN SMART STRIKE (CAN) USA UNION RAGS (USA) USA VICTOIRE PISA (JPN) JPN WORKFORCE (GB) JPN

EBFF S TA L L I O N S

EBF S TA L L I O N S

Prepared by

EUROPEAN BREEDERS’ FUND Lushington House, 119 High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9AE, UK

T: +44 1638 667960 F: +44 1638 667270 E: info@ebfhorseracing.co.uk W: ebfstallions.com

Mar_127_Scudamore_v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:49 Page 58

Peter and Tom go

HEAD TO HEAD As an eight-time champion jockey, Peter Scudamore, 56, needs little introduction.

His father Michael, who died in July last year, rode 496 winners, among them the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National, two of the races that eluded his son.

In 2007, Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son Tom, now 31, was appointed stable jockey to David Pipe, whose father Martin employed Peter in that capacity for seven years from 1986.

Ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, both men discuss how their relationship has changed over the years and what it means to be a Scudamore...

Interviews by Julian Muscat â&#x20AC;˘ Photos George Selwyn

Like father like son: Tom, seen here riding Grands Crus, has followed father Peter, on Sabin Du Loir (right), to the top of the professional jockey ranks

Mar_127_Scudamore_v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:49 Page 59

THE BIG INTERVIEW PETER AND TOM SCUDAMORE

PETER SCUDAMORE

A

s a child, it wasn’t long before I realised what I was getting myself into. I was riding in my first show and when I entered the ring the announcer said: “And here’s Peter Scudamore, son of the Grand Nationalwinning jockey Michael.” Right on cue, my pony refused three times at the first obstacle.

I wasn’t born when dad won the [1957] Gold Cup and I was one when he won the [1959] Grand National. One of the early memories I have of his career is when he took the fall that would end his riding days. He clipped heels on the Flat at Warwick; I was seven at the time.

Dad encouraged me to become a jockey. We had a close relationship but we didn’t talk about my riding as fathers and sons do today. There were no mobile phones; it would often be a few days after I’d ridden in a race that I’d get back home and have the discussion.

I had two young sons [Tom’s brother is Michael, trainer of Welsh National winner Monbeg Dude] but it never played on my mind that I was away so much. In my day we had Sundays off and we didn’t ride in the summer, so I had plenty of time to get involved with the children. I’d watch them at Pony Club and playing rugby. They had an idyllic upbringing in the Cotswolds, just as I had.

When I retired [in 1993] I said that not winning the Gold Cup or the Grand National, as my father had, wasn’t such a big deal. I still feel that way now. Of course I’d love to have

won them but first and foremost I was a professional making a living. That was always a big thing for me.

I retired because I increasingly found myself wondering what I would do afterwards. I could have ridden longer but if I’d gone downhill, I wouldn’t have been in as good a position. I had the job with the BBC, my column in the Daily Mail was lined up, and I’d invested in Nigel Twiston-Davies’s set-up, where I became

“Dad and I had a

close relationship but we didn’t talk about my riding as fathers and sons do today” assistant trainer. I felt the time had come.

The thing I am proud of from my riding days was what Martin Pipe and I achieved together.

I was only riding them but he was training horses differently and making it work. Just the fact that he trained a horse gave you confidence when you went out to ride it.

But beyond that, I am most proud of my family

and what everyone has achieved. The legacy dad left us was one of toughness and honour, although I wish he’d left us a few more quid!

We are all aware that it’s much easier for families like ours to achieve in horseracing. The kid from the back street doesn’t have the chance to ride like we did as kids, and I think we appreciate that. We know how lucky we are.

The relationship between Tom and I is different from the one I had with my father. We can talk on the phone straight after a race. In the early days it was difficult watching Tom ride. I once told him exactly what he should have done in a race and it made him angry, understandably.

You’ve got to find the right way to say things, rather than say it straight out. I am more pigheaded than Tom; he is more intelligent. His career has progressed and he doesn’t ride like I did. I don’t think people automatically see him as my son any more, which is great.

I suppose I was proud he wanted to follow in my footsteps. I knew there would be pressure, especially when he took over AP McCoy’s role as stable jockey at the Pipe stable. People want the next in line to be even better than the one before, and while Tom is probably a better jockey than I was, I won all those titles.

It was a big thrill to see Tom ride 100 winners in a season for the first time [2013-14 campaign]. I started riding at a time when 70 winners would make you champion jockey, but to ride 100 winners is still a big milestone. It shows you are up there with the best.

>>

Mar_127_Scudamore_v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:49 Page 60

PETER AND TOM SCUDAMORE >>

Tom is riding better than he ever has. I don’t think he ever lacked self-confidence; he sat his A-Levels before he turned professional. Being a jockey is a bit like being a golfer. If you try too hard, or think too much, you get tense, and that’s not the right way. I feel Tom is more relaxed now, and it shows in his riding.

When the Cheltenham Festival comes round I can sense Tom’s demeanour changing slightly.

I remember getting a bit revved up, but the build-up was nothing like what it is today. You might have thought you had a chance of winning a race but you never saw the Irish horses until they came to Cheltenham. You never really knew what you were up against.

“It’s a different

intensity at the Cheltenham Festival, so the mental attitude has to be different” And because the build-up wasn’t so hyped, you didn’t start thinking about Cheltenham so far in advance. I remember thinking the most important thing was to get there in one piece.

When you’re there you soon realise it’s not a normal day’s racing. You’re not down at the start at Taunton with two to beat, you’re one of 16, all of them up for it. It’s a different intensity, so the mental attitude has to be different.

I’m obviously aware of the danger element in what Tom is doing but when I watch him ride I probably block it out. If you thought about the dangers in getting behind the wheel of a car, you might not do it at all. Having ridden myself, I guess I know there’s no escaping it.

I am now a grandfather but I’m not in the slightest bit concerned about not having a grandson to bore with stories of my riding days.

My two granddaughters, Margot and Myrtle, have added a wonderful new dimension to the family. Young children constantly surprise you.

They both ride and they love horses, so there could yet be another racing chapter in the family to be written. In the meantime, I shall just sit back and be amused by them.

TOM SCUDAMORE

A

s a teenager I was really into my rugby.

It looked as though I was going to be too big to be a jockey, but fortunately I didn’t grow any taller. The truth is that I never wanted to be anything other than a jockey.

Mum (Marilyn) was always very supportive.

She took Michael and I to all the Pony Club and showjumping competitions because dad always had work commitments, so she was the driving force. Mum knew I was obsessed by racing.

60

Taste of things to come: a young Tom with his father at Cheltenham in 1992

I was aware dad was away a lot when I was a child, but that’s just the way it was. If I had a day off I’d go racing with dad. It was a wonderful existence being brought up in the weighing room.

I always talked to dad about everything to do with racing. With mum, it was more about things like how she coped with dad being away so much. I was aware the same thing might happen to me if I made it, and thought it might help me to be understanding towards my wife.

I still speak to mum most days now.

I knew that dad was champion jockey from a very early age, but the first vivid memory I have

is of him winning the [1988] Champion Hurdle on Celtic Shot. I was five and at school in Chipping Campden. Michael and I listened to the race on the radio and when dad won, my teacher, who was a nun, came rushing over to us. It was all very exciting. I remember it being a really big deal. I was elated, and from then on I remember absolutely everything dad achieved, everything he did, and of feeling very proud.

I’d be absolutely enthralled when we went to see my grandfather. He had a video with loads of old Grand Nationals, which he played endlessly. We went through footage of the National he won time and time again. It was an THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

>>

STALLIONS 2015 TORONADO W by High Chaparral - Wana Doo

NE

EW

N

FEE: £15,000 1st Oct SLF

GREGORIAN

by Clodovil - Three Days In May FEE: £4,500 1st Oct SLF

BAHAMIAN BOUNTY

by Cadeaux Genereux - Clarentia FEE: £8,500 1st Oct SLF

DICK TURPIN

by Arakan - Merrily FEE: £4,000 1st Oct SLF

PASTORAL PURSUITS

by Bahamian Bounty - Star FEE: £4,000 1st Oct SLF

Gr.1 Qipco Sussex Stks, Gr.1 Queen Anne Stks Undefeated Gr.2 winning 2yo European Champion 3yo

3 time Group winner 4 times Gr.1 placed Defeated 15 Gr.1 winners

Yearling average of 57,777gns in Books 1 and 2 of 2014 Tattersalls October Sale Sire of over 50 Stakes performers

Top yearlings sold for 70,000gns in 2014 and achieved averages of over 57,000gns First crop of 2YO runners in 2015

17 individual 2yo winners and a winners/runners strike rate of 45% (GB/IRE 2yos of 2014) Sire of 8 Stakes performers in 2014

2015 WWW.NATIONALSTUD.CO.UK NOMINATION BOOKINGS:

Brian O’Rourke: 07789 508157 | Rob Stapleton: 07717 558766 Amy Taylor: 01638 675929 or 07872 058295 email stallions@nationalstud.co.uk

Mar_127_Scudamore_v2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:49 Page 62

PETER AND TOM SCUDAMORE >> extraordinary feeling to have someone in the

family who’d not just ridden in it, but won it.

I remember my early experiences of riding out on the roads with him. He’d tell me about all the various courses, the best way to ride them, meeting the Queen and Queen Mother. They were exciting stories for a young boy to hear.

Dad was very involved with the early part of my career. I’d go through virtually every ride with him or granddad, who always kept things simple. Dad found it hard not to over-analyse. I don’t mind listening to him because I’ve heard so much I can almost finish off his sentences.

“The family’s

achievements have served as a spur; you don’t want to be the one left behind” My dad was driven all his life and he made me understand how bloody hard it was going to be. One day he screwed up and Fred Winter sat him down and said: “It’s not a game out there, it’s a war. It’s all very well for you, but I’ve been training this horse for six months and the jobs of all the lads at home depend on success.

You’ve got the whole weight of the yard behind you, so you can’t afford to make mistakes.” It made a huge impression when I heard that story.

Both dad and granddad tried to drum into me that I had to be mentally and physically prepared every day, because you never know when opportunity might come your way. You’re only going to get so many of those as a young jockey, so you had better be ready. Otherwise some other bugger will take your place!

I’ve always found dad’s input more a help than a hindrance. The family’s achievements have served as a spur; you don’t want to be the one left behind. But in your own way, you want to do something different. It sounds daft, but two races I’ve always wanted to win are the Whitbread and the Schweppes, as they were known. They are the only two big races yet to be won by a Scudamore.

Some people at school would say I’d only have the chance to make it as a jockey because of who my father was. There was one kid who I played rugby with, a complete tosser, who kept saying that to me. It was water off a duck’s back – and I’m sure I was an arrogant little bastard myself at the time.

There were times when it has been tough, but that’s true in any walk of life. I remember just before I got the job with David Pipe [in 2007] I was pissed off. I wondered where I was going, what I was doing. But you can’t afford to be negative because that opportunity might be just

62

Tom’s best Festival memory to date is winning last year’s Ryanair Chase on Dynaste

round the corner. Sure enough, within a week I won the Eider Chase for Venetia Williams on Nil Desperandum and my career took off again.

My first ride at the Festival was Enivrant in the 2000 Kim Muir, and I remember being very hungry as I had to ride at 9st 12lb, I was still at school then. The other memory I have is of disappointment; the horse didn’t run well at all.

Experience counts for a lot at the Festival.

The more you do it, the more you realise you’re not riding the occasion. When you’re out there you have to treat it as just another race. You realise more and more it’s about doing your job.

You’ll have bad days but you’ve got to pick yourself up. The next day is the most important.

My best Festival memory to date is winning the Ryanair Chase last year on Dynaste. The worst was when dad rode Carvill’s Hill in the 1992 Gold Cup. It was meant to be the one: dad was convinced for months beforehand the horse couldn’t get beaten. We were all there and we thought he just had to show up, but we could

see from an early stage it wasn’t going to plan.

We went to supper afterwards and dad was down, although to be fair he was much better than we expected. He could get very down and I remember thinking we wouldn’t get a word out of him that night, but he just said: “Our name just wasn’t on the cup.”

I was absolutely aware of the dangers of riding from the early days. It wasn’t dressed up for us. We were always worried when somebody picked us up from school who we weren’t expecting. It invariably meant dad was in hospital somewhere.

To get to 100 winners for the first time was a great feeling. The quality in David’s string is increasing and who knows? With AP retiring, the prospect of winning the jockeys’ title isn’t as distant as it was. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. It’s a chance to achieve something that seemed way out of reach until recently. Dad won it eight times, but I’m nothing like so greedy. One would do nicely.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

DICK TURPIN

FEE: £4,000 1st Oct SLF

OUTSTANDING FIRST YEARLINGS IN 2014

ex Mookhlesa (realised 70,000gns)

ex Valiantly (realised 70,000gns)

ex Sovereign Abbey (realised 42,000gns)

ex Misty Eyed (realised 32,000gns)

Consignor: Woodtown House Stud, Ireland Purchaser: Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock In training with Richard Hannon

Consignor: Keith Harte (Agent) Purchaser: David Redvers Bloodstock To train with David Simcock

Consignor: Carmel Stud Purchaser: Ricky PF Yiu In training with James Fanshawe

Consignor: Rosyground Stud Purchaser: Rabbah Bloodstock In training with James Tate

FIRST NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 2YO RUNNERS 2015 “He is a very nice, good looking, correct and stand out individual.

Excellent temperament and doing everything easily” Richard Hannon on Dick Turpin ex Mookhlesa ‘13

2015 WWW.NATIONALSTUD.CO.UK NOMINATION BOOKINGS:

Brian O’Rourke: 07789 508157 | Rob Stapleton: 07717 558766 Amy Taylor: 01638 675929 or 07872 058295 email stallions@nationalstud.co.uk

Mar_127_jumpers_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 16:06 Page 64

The quest for the

PERFECT JUMPER In recent years, the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure has welcomed many French-breds – but top-class National Hunt horses emanate from a wide range of sources Words Edward Prosser • Photos George Selwyn

I

t won’t just be Cheltenham’s racegoers travelling from far and wide on their annual pilgrimage to Gloucestershire this month, many of the equine stars can boast equally eclectic backgrounds.

Competition among owners large and small to acquire a Festival contender is as strong as ever and the big-race hopes have been acquired from many different beginnings. It is a marketplace that has changed in many respects over recent seasons, meaning that runners in this year’s feature events have often travelled a more divergent route to Prestbury Park than their counterparts did a couple of decades ago.

Back then, the 1995 Gold Cup went to Master Oats, a failed pointto-pointer transformed by Kim Bailey; one-time modest Irish Flat performer Viking Flagship took the Champion Chase; while Alderbrook – a Group 3 winner on the level – won the Champion Hurdle. All three were British-bred.

Most star jumpers those days were bought by patient owners as stores and then, as now, Irish point-to-pointers had a strong appeal, with successful

64

graduates in 1995 including Stayers’ Hurdle winner Dorans Pride.

Unusually, that year’s Arkle winner Klairon Davis began his racing career across the Channel, but otherwise the handful of French-bred top-level runners were either sent over to Cheltenham by Francois Doumen, like 1994 Gold Cup hero The Fellow, or trained by Martin Pipe, once again ahead of his contemporaries >>

Mar_127_jumpers_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:52 Page 65

BUYING A TOP PROSPECT

Clockwise from top: Sprinter Sacre, Long Run, Bobs Worth, Un De Sceaux and Sir Des Champs

Mar_127_jumpers_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:31 Page 66

BUYING A TOP PROSPECT >> as a convert to Gallic jumpers.

It was shortly afterwards that a young agent working with David Minton, Anthony Bromley, began investigating the French market and he has scarcely looked back, bringing over the likes of Kauto Star, Master Minded, Big Buck’s, Long Run and Binocular to excel at Cheltenham.

Many others are now sourcing National Hunt horses in France, not least Ireland’s champion trainer Willie Mullins, whose mouthwatering team this month includes Un De Sceaux, Douvan, Don Poli and Vautour.

Despite increased competition, Bromley’s

“Now, the competition for a nice prospect is forcing us to make a decision after one or two runs”

successes with the FR suffix have continued and his big hopes include leading fancies Silviniaco Conti, Saphir Du Rheu and Peace And Co. “It’s a tougher game than it was ten to 15 years ago,” says Bromley, a partner in Newmarket-based Highflyer Bloodstock. “A lot of people are after French horses because when you look at the Saturdays and the big festivals it is invariably those horses who are coming through. About 70% of our Highflyer-bought Graded and Listed winners this season have come from France.

“Now the competition for a nice prospect

Three of a different kind The ‘job lot’ in France: SPRINTER SACRE A fax came through to David Minton while breakfasting with Raymond Mould in January 2008. French owner Robert Fougedoire wanted to sell all his racehorses and young stock in a job lot.

Three days later Minton and vet Buffy Shirley-Beavan were at Haras de Huguenot, looking over the group for Mould. A total of 21 horses were bought for €300,000 in what proved a fortuitous deal and headed to Shropshire to Mill House Stud, run by Minton and wife Juliet.

A handful were sold on, 15 have won, including Astracad and Viking Blond, but one youngster exceeded any reasonable expectations.

“Sprinter Sacre was one of four two-year-olds when they came over and they were very similar types of horses,” recalls Minton. “You wouldn’t have said that he was a standout then. But it was when he was four and with Nicky [Henderson] that we started to look at him in a different light.

“It’s been fantastic for us because he comes home every summer. He’s turned out and we have him from May until the end of the July. He’s a great character and shows off in the paddock.”

The Flat horse: DODGING BULLETS When Frankie Dettori sold a Dubawi colt for just 8,000gns at Tattersalls in 2009, it was unlikely to be foremost in his expectations that he could one day head to Cheltenham as the breeder of a live championship contender.

Named Dodging Bullets, the youngster joined County Tyrone handler Andy Oliver, having seven starts as a three-year-old before breaking his duck in a handicap at the 2011 Galway festival, following up at a Sligo evening meeting a couple of weeks later.

“I think Andy was trying to make him a miler so that he’d appeal to Hong Kong but he was always just coming up short,” says Tom Malone, who bought the horse privately.

“The moment he stepped up in trip he was away. I watched his win at Sligo off a mark of 89 and he looked as tough as teak that day, when he beat Hisaabaat, to whom he was giving 7lb.

“The things I liked about him were that he was consistent, got a trip, and I adore his sire Dubawi – he gives horses a great hardy winning attitude. Sadly I will not be able to buy too many these days!”

The store: BOBS WORTH Nobody made a fortune from Bobs Worth as a sales horse but all of those involved have been rewarded by his racecourse exploits.

An €11,000 foal purchase by Peter Molony, he was sold 12 months later to Barry Geraghty for €16,500, failed to sell as a three-year-old before changing hands a year later for £20,000.

is forcing us to make a decision after one or two runs, you are doing it on much less evidence. A decade ago you had the luxury of seeing a horse go through maidens, into Graded races and then you could make a firm assessment.

“You can’t wait for a horse like Kauto Star, Big Buck’s and Master Minded to get a level of form in graded races now before you step in. They were expensive horses but you knew they were of a certain level.

“I’m not actually paying more money now than I was back then, but just doing it on less evidence.

There’s still okay value to be had David Minton and Anthony Bromley act in partnership

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_jumpers_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:32 Page 67

Peter Molony, second left, bought Bobs Worth as a foal and sold him as a yearling to Barry Geraghty, who then sold him as a store

Geraghty’s boss Nicky Henderson and David Minton bought him that day, at the 2009 Doncaster Spring Sale, but didn’t immediately view their new recruit as a future Gold Cup horse.

“I remember Barry Geraghty looking very forlorn outside his stable at Doncaster,” recalls Minton. “I told Barry the horse lacked a bit of scope and size and that the guv’nor wouldn’t like that.

“I was standing with Nicky in the ring and knew the reserve was £20,000. He was about to be led out unsold at £19,000 when Nicky said we’d bid one to help Barry. So we got him on the reserve; you’d have to say it was fortuitous, we weren’t thinking of Gold Cups at the time. He still looks a bit like he did then, but he’s got the heart of a lion.”

Henderson, Minton and Molony have naturally been on hand to cheer on Bobs Worth on his big days and although Geraghty may not have got rich at Doncaster, things did not end badly.

“We were happy that we’d managed to sell him on, it was just after the economic downturn,” says Geraghty. “Anyway, it has worked out well for me in the end. I just had to wait a bit to get my bonus from riding him! “

but you have to find angles. You have to be quick but you also have to do due diligence.

There’s a number I have missed, I had to let them go at the money they were talking. You see some that have worked out for other people and some that don’t. This year I’ve been lucky, but I can’t rest on my laurels.”

Peace And Co, one of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s formidable juvenile hurdling team, had enjoyed a jumping win before any of his Triumph rivals, scoring at Clairefontaine in June for trainer Christian Scandella.

French agent David Powell, who has worked exclusively with Highflyer for 19 years, was at the Normandy course and acted quickly.

Bromley adds: “A debutants’ race at Clairefontaine in June isn’t normally where THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

you’d find a Triumph Hurdle horse so he’s been a surprise package. The form worked out well subsequently, but I didn’t know that at the time. It was speculative. He was just a nice prospect that you thought might mature into something.”

Faugheen was one of four Grade 1winning Irish point-to-pointers at last year’s Cheltenham Festival and with a roll of honour that includes Gold Cup winners Best Mate, Denman, War Of Attrition, Kicking King and Imperial Commander, they remain a happy hunting ground for many. Whereas most of those changed hands privately after their pointing starts, one of the great changes in recent years has been the rise of the boutique sales. Cheltenham’s auctions, which began only in 2004, turned over more than £12 million for Brightwells last year.

There was also a good trade at DBS’ Newbury auction and the Goffs Punchestown sale.

But such is the auction market for expoint-to-pointers that some, like agent Tom Malone, find the horses increasingly hard to buy away from the sale ring.

“You go with £100,000 to spend privately on a pointer and you’ll be doing a lot of looking and driving around,” says Malone.

“The allure of Brightwells means these people think they might get £150,000-£200,000 so why would they take £100,000 for one privately? I might say they are silly but then one will make £150,000.”

The buying strength of the major Irish owners has prompted Malone to look further afield for value, including to Germany, where he found leading hurdler Irving.

He reveals: “Up until the last 18 months, 90% of my horses came from Ireland, but since then it has become 65% Ireland and 35% France and Germany. The good horses are still coming from Ireland but it’s so difficult to buy against the powerhouses of JP McManus, Gigginstown House Stud and Barry Connell. Their purchases stay with the trainer, who understandably doesn’t want to lose the horse so will sell to JP or one of the others even if he’s getting £50,000 less.”

Although Larkhill winner Bitofapuzzle looks to have a real chance in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, the marketplace for British point-to-pointers is still limited.

“There aren’t enough in English point-topoints taking each other on so all you learn is that a horse jumped round and that its wind was okay,” adds Malone. “The system

67

>>

Mar_127_jumpers_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 15:32 Page 68

BUYING A TOP PROSPECT >> isn’t geared towards producing young horses

and the problem is that you have all-age maidens. If a four- or five-year-old is going to be any good you’d expect them to beat a seven-year-old maiden first time out. And if he does it then he’s only doing what he’s supposed to do.

“I’d like to see four- and five-year-old maidens at places like Larkhill or Barbury Castle. If they had eight nice runners from good producers it would make my job a lot easier to watch a race like that off level weights.”

A major fillip this year will be a DBSbacked £10,000 bumper at Aintree on May 15 for graduates of British point-to-points.

“That race is going to be a big boost to everybody, the winner will get a wildcard to the Doncaster May Sale,” says Minton. “We have some at home to try and qualify for it and it should be a big boost to pointing in the UK.” Irish point-to-point vendors restocking

have contributed to a revival in the store market, which was hit harder than most by the recession, and Minton, who picked up Bobs Worth for £20,000 and The New One for €25,000 in that sphere, feels there is still value to be had.

“The store market’s come back, it’s like it used to be,” he says. “It’s boosted by the strength of the Irish point-to-point market, the boys have made good money and upped their stakes. Form horses are making so much that owners are keen to buy stores, you can still get a good one for £25,000 to £30,000. But the owners crack on with them now, they won’t give them 18 months off like they once did.

“There’s also good demand for younger horses, most of the top foals at Fairyhouse in November are bought to race and won’t be reoffered, and we actually bought Many Clouds at that sale for €6,000 for Trevor Hemmings as a foal.”

Whereas it was once not unusual to see a

Tom Malone spotted Dodging Bullets when in training on the Flat in Ireland

Group Flat performer such as Alderbrook switch to hurdling, demand for the same type of horse from overseas mean that fewer now end up jumping.

“I feel the juvenile division has suffered from ten to 15 years ago,” adds Malone. “You see a lot of 65-rated Flat horses winning juvenile races, whereas there were once some really smart types running in such races.

“We can’t afford to buy them. The overseas markets are so strong, including the Middle East and Hong Kong, but more than ever it is Australia now. They want ten- to 12-furlong performers rated 75 upwards and big, strong,

“Demand for stores has been boosted by the strength of the Irish point-to-point market”

Hennessy Gold Cup hero Many Clouds was bought as a foal for Trevor Hemmings for just €6,000

68

good-limbed horses – exactly what we want to go jumping.

“It’s very hard to compete with the money they offer but, having said that, I’ve still managed to sneak the likes of Dodging Bullets, Third Intention and Irving off the Flat so it can be done.”

Just as those four days at Cheltenham are sacred for many racing enthusiasts, they can mark the culmination of many years’ scouting for those buying the horse.

“Cheltenham becomes a major part of your life when you work in this business and we’ve a heck of a team going this year – it will be about 70 runners,” says Minton. “It’s hectic but I love it. I haven’t missed a day there since 1973.”

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Mar_127_Bloodstock_Intro_Owner 20/02/2015 14:39 Page 71

BREEDERS’ DIGEST

By EMMA BERRY, Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes:

• Sales Circuit: A round-up of the winter sales from Cheltenham to Cape Town – pages 72-78 • The Caulfield Files: Running the rule over emerging sire talent in the US – pages 80-81 • Dr Statz: Youth can have the edge over proven ability when it comes to mares – page 101

Time to act on mares foaling at sales

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

LIAM NORRIS

T

his time last year I was prompted to write a column on the subject of mares foaling on sales grounds after three foals were born at FasigTipton – one of which was auctioned alongside his mother just hours later – and another arrived at Arqana’s February Sale twenty minutes after her dam had been through the ring.

Thankfully it's not a common occurrence but sales held in January and February in Europe and America naturally coincide with the early months of the foaling season, meaning that any mare consigned close to her due date will be at risk of finding herself in such a scenario.

When canvassed last year it transpired that among the sales companies only Tattersalls has a policy in this regard. For its February Sale, usually held in the first week of the month, Tattersalls will not accept mares covered before April 1, give or take a day or two depending on the date of the sale. This should allow for the foaling date of any mare covered at that time to be roughly a month after the sale – the period of time at which a mare is likely to be moved from her regular home if she is to foal at a different stud.

Though I haven’t heard of any foals being born at sales this year, two foals were offered at foot at Arqana’s February Sale this time around, both of whom were less than a week old. I find it hard to see how this situation can be justified.

One only needs to have read the columns written for this magazine by Rossdales’ experienced stud vet Deidre Carson to understand the myriad problems which can beset newborn foals and their dams. Indeed, this month’s Vet Forum on page 98 details the various vaccines available to minimise the spread of disease during the breeding season when the population on studs naturally grows.

Why, then, would a breeder care for a mare throughout almost all of her pregnancy only to send her to a sale at the most crucial time? The sales taking place in January and February tend to be mixed auctions, with horses catalogued

Foals being born at sales complexes happens rarely but shouldn’t really happen at all

not only from stud farms but also training yards, thereby intensifying the risk of the spread of infections and viruses from different sources.

This is hardly an ideal environment for a foal to be born into, never mind the potential increase in stress for the mare.

I fully accept that, to a certain extent, the bloodstock industry relies on trading, but if the commercial imperative has become so strong that horse welfare takes second place then surely it’s time for more stringent rules to be implemented. If breeders and/or vendors cannot be guided by their own moral compasses on this issue, then sales companies must enforce cut-off dates for entry.

Point well made Other than being Cheltenham Festival winners, what do Best Mate, Florida Pearl, Denman, Simonsig, Faugheen and Champagne Fever have in common? The answer is that they all started their racing careers in the Irish point-topoint field.

As Edward Prosser outlines on pages 64 to 68, there’s more than one way to buy a National Hunt horse, and there could well be cause to add another method to the list in years to come if a recently launched Tattersalls Ireland venture is successful.

Last month, the company launched Bidpoint, an online sales platform for Irish point-topointers which allows owners to advertise horses on the website when they enter for a race, starting from the weekend of February 28 and March 1. Prospective buyers can signal their intent with a bid up to 48 hours after the race and then have a further 48 hours to have the horse vetted once their offer has been accepted.

Blind bidding may not be for everyone, and it seems unlikely that this method will halt the flow of winning point-to-pointers to boutique jumping sales at Cheltenham and Punchestown, but it is nevertheless an innovative addition to the sales market in the digital age and will certainly help by putting vendors more easily in touch with would-be buyers.

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Mar_127_Sales_Circuit_Sales 20/02/2015 14:37 Page 72

SALES CIRCUIT

By CARL EVANS and NICOLA HAYWARD

Bright start to the year at the Cheltenham boutique Form horses remain in demand with figures up across the board for Brightwells

Brightwells Cheltenham January Sale

GEORGE SELWYN

Ireland’s point-to-point circuit is enduring a lean spell with fewer runners, but it can still produce young horses that send buyers into six-figure spins.

Hence three from that sphere led the charge at Brightwells’ first sale of the year, which showed rises in all the key figures from a catalogue of similar size to last year – maybe scarcity at the races is playing a part in the ring, but increases of 18% in average and 33% in median were good news for vendors.

The breeze-up section had been removed from the catalogue, but since only six of that type entered the ring 12 months earlier their absence made little difference.

Kieren McManus, buying for his father JP and heading interest from racehorse owner Bryan Drew, gained the top lot, Hawkhurst, a five-year-old who had made his sole run a

Kieran McManus: active at Cheltenham

72

Brightwells Cheltenham January Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Hawkhurst (Flemensfirth-Silaoce)

Avondale Stables

Price (£) 200,000

Buyer Kieran McManus

Knocknanuss (Beneficial-Dato Vic)

Meelahera Stables

180,000

H Kirk/W Mullins

Go Long (Hurricane Run- Monumental Gesture)

Glenview Stables

150,000

Evan Williams

Sir Will (Yeats-Tinopasa)

Rathvin Stables

135,000

West Coast Haulage

Brise Vendeenne (Dom Alco-Naiade Mag)

Brian Dunn

100,000

Just Acting (Presenting-Azalea)

Avondale Stables

82,000

Kieran McManus

Oscar Blue (Oscar-Blossom Roser)

Moate Stables

80,000

B O’Ryan/B Ellison

Rushvale (Moss Vale-Evidence)

Straidnahanna Stables

75,000

Kevin Ross

Coole Charmer (Flemensfirth-Ericas Charmk)

Glenview Stables

70,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Mustmeetalady (Mustameet-Ladymcgrath)

Monkswell Stud

55,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

Wade Harper (Westerner-Nosie Betty)

Serahane Stables

55,000

David Dennis

Tom Malone

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2015

28

1,629,000

58,179

39,000

200,000

2014

28

1,459,500

52,125

31,500

190,000

2013

31

1,542,000

49,742

28,000

250,000

2012

19

490,500

25,816

23,000

60,000

2011

29

1,071,300

36,941

25,000

115,000

winning one when scoring at Boulta as a fouryear-old one month earlier. He must have been a smart foal for he changed hands for €41,000 at that age.

Following him across the line at this sale were a pair of geldings who had finished onetwo in an Irish point six days earlier – the winner, Knocknanuss, joined the list of talented youngsters under Willie Mullins’ care. Five horses made six-figure sums, including Brise Vendeenne, a half-sister to Mullins’ exciting prospect Vroum Vroum Mag, but knocked down to agent Tom Malone.

Brightwells is now preparing for its Cheltenham Festival Sale, which takes place after the final race on day three of Cheltenham’s premier meeting. Twelve months ago it made a winning debut with a catalogue of 24 horses that generated an average in excess of £105,000.

DBS January Mixed Sale Ivors Rebel, a Cockney Rebel colt with recent winning form on Lingfield’s all-weather track headed trade at £50,000 at this one-day auction, but healthy prices for National Hunt weanlings was no less a talking point.

Their success encouraged DBS’s Managing Director Henry Beeby to urge British National Hunt breeders to support the sale with their ‘foals’, and he added: “We have proved conclusively that we will attract the majority of Irish buyers when we have the catalogue.”

Given this call to local breeders it was interesting that a French farm consigning a foal bred in Germany by stallion Martaline headed the section when knocked down to Peter Vaughan of Moanmore Stud. Expect to see the youngster reappearing as a store in two years’ time.

DBS had moved the mares and foals from THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_Sales_Circuit_Sales 20/02/2015 14:37 Page 73

this catalogue to its December Sale in 2013, hence the rise in turnover when they were reintroduced last year (see table).

When this year’s figures were calculated the clearance rate had dropped three percentage points to 67%, the average price had risen 6% and turnover was more or less static.

France’s newest bloodstock auctioneers, Osarus, had a reality check when staging their second January Sale at Clairefontaine racecourse.

Turnover almost halved and the average price fell 38%, and while the median held parity the sales company was left ruing a high percentage of withdrawals.

Osarus Director Emmanuel Viaud admitted to disappointment at the results, bemoaned the fact that almost a quarter of the catalogue failed to show and conceded a later closing date might be a solution.

Improved facilities for buyers and vendors, and the position in the calendar on the eve of the Route d’Etalons, are but two reasons to hope Osarus finds higher ground.

For the record, two teenage mares headed trade, with 15-year-old New Design, carrying a foal by first-crop sire Dabirsim and making €16,000, keeping 19-year-old War Game off top spot. Vendor Larissa Kneip bought New Design with an Intense Focus foal inside for 5,500gns at Tattersalls in February last year.

EMMA BERRY

Osarus January Mixed Sale

Sara Thorman with a yearling brother to Special Tiara who was sold for £42,000

DBS January Mixed Sale Top lots Name/Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Ivors Rebel (Cockney Rebel-Sopran Cross)

Egerton House

Price (£) 50,000

Ruth Carr/Northern Line Racing

C Martaline-Karuma (Surumu)

Haras du Pommeray

44,000

Moanmore Stud

C Kayf Tara-Special Choice (Bob Back)

Trickledown Stud

42,000

Bobby O’Ryan

C Kayf Tara-Champagne Lil (Terimon)

Mill House Stud

39,000

John O’Byrne

Night Of Passion (Winged Love-Miss Dundee)

Pam Pengelly

34,000

Kieran Cotter

C Oscar-Stickwithmenancy (Presenting)

Goldford Stud

32,000

John O’Byrne

Envol Pierji (Martaline-Playa Pierji)

Peter Nolan B/s

30,000

Aidan O’Ryan

C Midnight Legend-Calamintha (Mtoto)

Pitchall Farm/Elms Stud 25,000

Swanbridge B/s

Majestic Moon (Majestic Missile-Gala Style)

Musley Bank

Stroud Coleman/John Gallagher

22,000

Buyer

C Sixties Icon-Aphrodisias (Double Bed)

Glanvilles Stud

22,000

John O’Byrne

Tattersalls Ireland February Sale

Special Choice (Bob Back-Mammy’s Choice)

Trickledown Stud

22,000

Stroud/Coleman B/s

Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

If Road To Riches wins Cheltenham’s Betfred Gold Cup, Tattersalls Ireland will have another flagship for this one-day sale.

Now seven and the star of Noel Meade’s stable, he graduated through this ring as a yearling valued at just €8,000, but buyers were prepared to spend far more than that in a bid to find their own road to riches at this year’s renewal. They helped drive turnover up by 48% to its highest level since 2008, a year when property developers were beginning to feel the banking crisis squeeze and this was a two-day event.

This year’s aggregate rise came 12 months after a 40% gain in the same column, while the latest average and median prices were also up, by 9% and 24% respectively. The clearance rate of 70% was good for this type of event, but a reminder that shrewd Irish buyers will not gamble on a horse unless it fills most, if not all, the criteria to flip it as a store or lightly-raced horse in training. >>

2015

142

1,162,500

8,187

5,000

50,000

2014

153

1,177,550

7,696

5,000

65,000

2013

95

516,350

5,435

3,200

35,000

2012

76

392,800

5,168

3,350

30,000

2011

94

632,200

6,725

2,800

65,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Five-year tale Top Price (£)

Osarus January Mixed Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

New Design (Bluebird-Ashirah)

Haras de Saint Arnoult

Price (€) 16,000

Buyer Stefan Ullrich

War Game (Caerleon-Walensee)

Haras du Bois Roussel

14,000

Broadhurst Agency

Hill Of Grace (Desert Prince-Tycoon’s Dolce)

Al Shahania Stud France

13,000

MAB Agency

D’Outremer (Choisir-Haskilclara)

Kentucky Stud Farm

10,000

Sylvain Vidal

Paree (Desert Prince-Pelagic)

Haras d’Ellon

9,500

MAB Agency

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2015

44

181,000

4,114

3,000

16,000

2014

61

346,000

5,672

3,000

45,000

73

Mar_127_Sales_Circuit_Sales 20/02/2015 14:37 Page 74

SALES CIRCUIT >>

Well-bred colts by fashionable, proven sires were again to the fore, although a youngster from the first crop of Grange Stud’s Irish Derby hero Fame And Glory got onto the top-ten board when making €50,000.

His price was not too far off the top lot, a €65,000 son of ex-champion sire Presenting, while former jockey and trainer Charlie Swan, embarking on a career as a pinhooker, unwittingly bought a bit of rarity value when securing a €40,000 colt by Stowaway. Sadly Whytemount Stud’s resident sire had passed away at exercise that morning.

Tattersalls February Sale

Top lots Name/Sex/Breeding

Vendor

C Presenting-Reine Angevine (Poliglote)

Rathbarry Stud

Price (€) 65,000

Buyer Garrynacurra Stud

C Flemensfirth–Dawn Bid (Mazaad)

Killinny House

55,000

Aiden Murphy

C Robin Des Champs-Sliabh Geal Gcua (Milan)

Ballincurrig House

52,000

John O’Byrne

C Fame And Glory-Full Of Birds (Epervier Bleu)

Berry Farms

50,000

Aiden Murphy

C Stowaway-Allthewhile (Old Vic)

Sunnyhill Stud

40,000

Charlie Swan

Cordowna (Scorpion-Guigone)

Sheridan/Lee Valley B/s

38,000

Bobby McCarthy

Euphorique (Secret Singer-Nanny)

Haras des Loges

29,000

Tracey Gilmour

C Getaway-Blessingindisguise (Luso)

Bishopstown Stud

26,000

Peter & Ross Doyle B/s

C Oscar-Fruits De Mer (Presenting)

Michael Byrne

24,500

Modreeny Bloodstock

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2015

173

1,493,900

8,635

6,200

65,000

2014

127

1,009,250

7,947

5,000

65,000

2013

113

720,850

6,379

4,500

60,000

2012

119

883,950

7,428

3,800

100,000

2011

72

519,050

7,209

5,000

62,000

Tattersalls February Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Sutton Veny (Acclamation-Carabine)

Belmont Stud

Price (gns)

Postale (Zamindar-Posteritas)

Juddmonte Farms

72,000

Whitwell Bloodstock

Night Party (Dansili-La Salina)

Darley

62,000

David Redvers

Baynunah (Medaglia D’oro-Damaniyat Girl)

Rabbah/Pegasus

58,000

SackvilleDonald

Wrood (Invasor-Ras Shaikh)

Rabbah/Pegasus

55,000

Compas Equine

Einsteins Folly (Whipper-Azra)

Snailwell Stud

54,000

Blandford B/s

Stonecutter (Mastercraftsman-Sparkle Of Stones)

Prestige Place

52,000

Northern Line Racing

Two Pass (Mtoto-Pass The Peace)

Rabbah/Darley

50,000

Cormac McCormack B/s

Zman Awal (Dubawi-Pivotal Lady)

Rabbah/Pegasus

47,000

Mohamed al Yaqout

80,000

Buyer David Redvers

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

2015

211

2,586,100

12,256

7,000

Top Price (gns) 80,000

2014

172

2,166,600

12,597

6,750

145,000

2013

190

1,747,600

9,198

5,000

100,000

2012

179

1,641,100

9,168

3,500

110,000

2011

164

1,672,300

10,197

4,500

160,000

TATTERSALLS/LAURA GREEN

TATTERSALLS/LAURA GREEN

A clearance rate of 88% was the headline figure at this year’s annual one-day sale, which opened with its usual entrée of the TBA Stallion Parade.

That put extra bottoms on seats and gave an icy day extra atmosphere inside Park Paddocks, but the stallion-perusing mare owners were clearly not alone, and buyers from abroad were in evidence on the buyers’ sheets.

From a same-sized catalogue, turnover rose 19%, a figure helped by fewer withdrawals and resulting in an extra 39 horses entering the ring. However, the additional lots tugged the average price down by 3% while the median went up 4%.

Fireworks were few, as witnessed by an 80,000gns top price for the mare Sutton Veny, a nine-year-old with a desirable Lope De Vega cover. Consigned from Pat O’Rourke’s Belmont Stud, she was knocked down to David Redvers who was pleased to gain a mate for secondseason sire Havana Gold, the Qatar Bloodstock-owned stallion that resides at his Tweenhills Stud. >>

Tattersalls Ireland February Sale

Sutton Veny has a date with Havana Gold

74

Group 1 winner Mutual Trust’s half-sister Postale was sold carrying to his sire Cacique

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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Heeraat INTRODUCING

Bay 2009, 16.1hh (1.65m) DARK ANGEL – THAWRAH (GREEN DESERT)

THE LOOKS

A 140,000gns yearling (the top priced of his sire’s crop).

THE SPEED

GROUP WINNING SPRINTER OF 5 RACES, and 11 LENGTH WINNER of his maiden at 2.

The fastest winner of the Hackwood Stakes since 2001

THE PEDIGREE

By DARK ANGEL out of a half sister to the Gr.1 winning sprinter and Gr.1 sire

(faster than INVINCIBLE SPIRIT and 5 other Gr.1 winners of the race).

Won

MALHUB.

Half brother to LR winner AMBIANCE, out of a half sister to Gr.1 winning sprinter MALHUB and full sister to the dam of multiple Group winner YELLOW ROSEBUD, etc.

Family of DANDY MAN, ANTHEM ALEXANDER, SUDIRMAN, GENTILDONNA, etc.

The same DARK ANGEL – GREEN DESERT cross as LETHAL FORCE

Gr.3 Hackwood Stakes, 6f, Newbury, 2013 (above) in the fastest time since 2001, beating Gr.1 winner KRYPTON FACTOR (at levels).

Won Maiden Stakes, 6f, Pontefract, at 2, by an easy 11 lengths.

2nd (nk) Gr.3 Hackwood Stakes, 6f, Newbury, 2014, beating Gr.2 winner ES QUE LOVE (at levels).

2nd (nk) LR City Walls Stakes, 5f, York, to Gr.1 Nunthorpe Stakes winner JWALA (rec. 5lbs), beating two other Gr.1 winners.

Defeated 43 Black Type winners (5 Gr.1 winners) Rated 5lbs superior to DARK ANGEL by Racehorses of 2013

Retires to MICKLEY STUD in 2015 at a fee of £4,000 SLF Enquiries: Richard Kent, MICKLEY STUD, Ternhill, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 3QW Telephone: 01630 638840 or 01630 685220 (h) • Mobile: 079 73 315722 • mickleystud@btconnect.com Or: John Walsh Bloodstock Telephone: +353 (0)45 875244 • Mobile: +353 (0)86 2558945

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

75

Beechwood Grange OB Feb 2015 f-p_Beechwood Grange OB Jan 2015 f-p 20/02/2015 14:48 Page 1

Desideratum Bay, 2002, (16.11⁄2 hh) by DARSHAAN - DESIRED (RAINBOW QUEST)

FEE:

£1,250

Group Winner from a Star-Studded Stallion Family Desideratum won 4 races, £152,677, at 3 years, and was placed 3 times, all his starts.

Won Gr.3 Prix du Lys, 12f. Longchamp, “totally outclassed his three rivals” Raceform Won LR Prix de l'Avre, 12f, Longchamp, by 21⁄2 lengths, beating Kendor Dine (Gr.3), etc.

2nd Gr.1 Grand Prix de Paris, 12f, Longchamp, beating Plea Bargain (Gr.2), Bellamy Cay (Gr.2), Laverock (Gr.1), Musketier (Gr.3), etc.

4th Gr.2 Prix Noailles, 11f, Longchamp.

Racehorses of 2005: 118 (same rating as Gr.1 winner Laverock)

Sire of Hurdle, Bumper and Point to Point winners

Haafhd

European Champion 3yo

Ch. 2001 15.3 h.h. (1.59m) by ALHAARTH – AL BAHATHRI (BLUSHING GROOM)

FEE:

£3,000

Rated 115+ at 2 • Rated 129 at 3

Won 5 races at 2 and 3 years, 6-10f, £492,288, and was placed 3 times, all but one of his starts.

Won Gr.1 2,000 Guineas Stakes, 8f, Newmarket by 1¾ lengths, beating Gr.1 winners Azamour, Grey Swallow, Whipper, Bachelor Duke, etc.

Won Gr.1 Champion Stakes, 10f, Newmarket by 2½ lengths, beating Gr.1 winners Chorist, Azamour, Refuse To Bend, Doyen, etc.

Won Gr.3 Craven Stakes, 8f, Newmarket, by 5 lengths, beating Three Valleys.

Won LR

Washington Singer Stakes, 7f, Newbury, at 2 years

3rd Gr.1 Dewhurst Stakes, 7f, Newmarket 3rd Gr.2 Champagne Stakes, 7f, Doncaster.

A Multiple Stakes sire in 2014 of 31 individual winners of 57 races

Sleeping Indian Bay, 2001, (16hh) by INDIAN RIDGE – LAS FLORES (SADLER’S WELLS)

FEE:

Timeform rating: 122

£3,000

Won 6 races, £252,417, 7-8f, from 3 to 5 years, and placed three times, from 12 starts Won Gr.2 Challenge Stakes, 7f, Newmarket, beating Gr.1 winner Somnus and 11 other Group winners Won Gr.3 Hungerford Stakes, 7f, Newbury, beating Gr.1 winner Attraction and 2 other Group winners Won LR Dubai Duty Free Cup, 7f, Newbury, beating Gr.1 winner Spinning Queen and 8 other Group winners Won LR Ben Marshall Stakes, 7f, beating Gr.1 winner Tout Seul and 3 other Group winners Won LR John O’Gaunt Stakes, 7f, Haydock Park, beating 3 Group winners 2nd Gr.2 Park Stakes, 7f, Doncaster, beating Gr.1 winner Court Masterpiece and 5 other Group winners 2nd Gr.2 Challenge Stakes, 7f, Newmarket, beating Gr.1 winners Somnus and Peeress, and 4 other Group winners

Consistently siring 2yo Stakes horses

Apply: STEVE KNOWLES, BEECHWOOD GRANGE STUD, Malton Road, York YO32 9TH. Tel: 01904 424573 • Fax: 01904 427079 • Mobile: 07786 260 904 E-mail: steve@beechwoodgrangestud.com • Website: www.beechwoodgrangestud.com

Mar_127_Sales_Circuit_Sales 20/02/2015 14:37 Page 77

SALES CIRCUIT

“The most pleasing

>>

Redvers also guided four-year-old filly Night Party into his net with a bid of 62,000gns, and while his client, Qatar’s Sheikh Fahad, was once again investing in stock for his growing racing and breeding interests, the long-established Dubai factor was present too. A look at the topten table shows Darley and its allies from Rabbah Bloodstock were crucial to the occasion, not as buyers, but vendors.

Arqana February Sale France’s premier mid-winter mixed auction moved from a single session to one of two days comprising many of the elements that make up Flat and jumps racing, but the change in format was not totally successful.

As Arqana chief Eric Hoyeau pointed out, the 2014 edition had been outstanding and a hard act to follow, and he suspected his company’s growing December Sale had taken the cream from the marketplace. He accepted Arqana had a role to play in helping the industry offer stock at public auction, but added this sale’s future as a two-day event would depend on entry numbers next year.

Last year’s impressive 59% rise in turnover went into reverse, falling 20%, the average went down 24% while the median mark declined 25%. An additional 70 lots did nothing for the clearance rate, which dropped from 87% to 73%, and ironically exactly 240 horses changed hands. The same number had been moved on at last year’s one-day sale.

Fillies and mares dominated upper prices, with the three-year-old Ponte Bawi, a daughter of Dubawi, heading trade at a valuation of €80,000. Herve Bunel of Agence FIPS secured her passport and said she would join Guy Pariente’s Haras de Colleville for a mating with resident stallion Kendargent.

Goffs February Sale When it comes to European New Year sales Goffs has the bragging rights, and it was able to thump home that message following its latest two-day auction.

It did not need a mare of Night Visit’s value – she made €975,000 at the 2014 sale – to hold the average price or to achieve a 31% jump in turnover. A 43% rise in median was another positive, but the most pleasing aspect for Goffs

EMMA BERRY

aspect for Goffs and its vendors was a leap in clearance, from 68% to 81%” Montjeu mare Montebella was sold in foal to Le Havre for €35,000 to Sylvain Vidal

Arqana February Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Ponte Bawi (Dubawi-Ponte Brolla)

Haras du Cadran

Price (€)

80,000 Agence FIPS

Buyer

Vangaug (Gentlewave-Be Yourself)

H Pantall

70,000 Imperial Bloodstock

Waldblume (Halling-Wurftaube)

La Motteraye Consignment

47,000 PB Bloodstock

Enough Paint (New Approach-Ginostra)

J Heloury

46,000 Marco Bozzi

Winshine (Chineur-Fusee Francaise)

S Smrczek

45,000 Bernd Raber

Princesse Winner (Astarabad-Aimela)

Elevage des Trois Rivieres

40,000 Agence FIPS

Representera (Lomitas-Joyeuse Entree)

Ecurie des Monceaux

37,000 HFTB Racing Agency

Montebella (Montjeu-Greek Air)

Haras de la Villiere

35,000 Sylvain Vidal

Muance (Al Namix-Virginia River)

Haras du Hoguenet

30,000 Guy Petit

Lettre Intime (Invincible Spirit-Diamoona)

Haras du Hoguenet

30,000 Agence Equus

Tops Island (Kapgarde-Island Du Frene)

Elevage de Laure

30,000 George Mullins

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2015

240

1,913,500

7,973

4,500

80,000

2014

240

2,430,000

10,125

6,000

74,000

2013

187

1,487,000

7,952

4,500

200,000

2012

193

1,214,000

6,290

4,500

85,000

2011

167

957,500

5,734

3,500

67,000

Goffs February Sale Top lots Name/Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Dreaming Of Rubies (Oasis Dream-Rubies From Burma)

Newtown Stud

Price (€) 220,000

Buyer

F Shamardal-Scarlet Belle (Sir Percy)

Abbeville & Meadow Court

145,000

Equine Associates

Fringe (In The Wings-El Jazirah)

Newtown Stud

130,000

Mick Flanagan

Arif (Nayef-Adjaliya)

Aga Khan Studs

100,000

Watkins B/s

C Born To Sea-Chanter (Lomitas)

Swordlestown Stud

90,000

Jamie Railton

C Excelebration-Out Of Thanks (Sadler’s Wells)

Moyglare Stud

85,000

BBA Ireland

C Iffraaj-Effige (Oratorio)

Meadowlands (Co. Down)

80,000

BBA Ireland

C Casamento-Sheba Five (Five Star Day)

Ringfort Stud (Agent)

80,000

Jamie Railton

Urticaire (Mister Sacha-Opium Des Mottes)

Gigginstown House

80,000

Bobby O’Ryan

BBA Ireland

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2015

322

5,238,900

16,270

10,000

220,000

2014

256

4,218,100

16,477

7,000

975,000

2013

290

2,873,200

9,907

5,500

100,000

2012

288

3,746,000

13,006

5,100

500,000

2011

209

1,825,900

8,736

5,000

74,000

>>

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

77

Mar_127_Sales_Circuit_Sales 20/02/2015 14:37 Page 78

SALES CIRCUIT >> and its vendors was a leap in clearance, from

68% to 81%. The final midwinter sale of its type in the calendar, it also sold the only horses to breach six-figure sums, headed, once again, by a mare.

This was Dreaming Of Rubies, a six-yearold with a cover by first-crop Darley sire Dawn Approach, and one of two horses that made the top-ten board from the Grassick family’s Newtown Stud. Eamonn Reilly of BBA Ireland secured the mare’s future with a €220,000 offer on behalf of Melba Bryce’s Hertfordshirebased Laundry Cottage Stud. The Grassicks also gained €130,000 for the 12-year-old mare Fringe, whose future, said buyer Mick Flanagan, could be in Australia after the birth of her Champs Elysee foal.

The Aga Khan’s patronage of Goffs saw Dundalk-winning three-year-old Arif add €100,000 to the pot, while Flat-bred yearlings, many bought for resale later this year, also chipped in. They were headed by the sale’s only Shamardal offering, a filly, knocked down to Ronald Rauscher for €145,000.

Cape Premier Yearling Sale A new South African sales record was set at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale when a colt by Dynasty out of an unraced sister to Silvano was knocked down to Wehann Smith for R5.2 million.

The Maine Chance Farms-consigned colt was bought on behalf of newcomer Piet du Toit, a game breeder from Rustenburg who is no stranger to high-flying auctions having bought and sold buffaloes for upwards of R20 million each. Catalogued under the name of Shining Knight, the new purchase will be renamed Tsunami after du Toit’s favourite Zambezi Sable antelope bull and will be trained by Mike Bass in Cape Town.

The under-bidder on the sales-topper, Amanda Skiffington, eventually saw the gavel drop in her favour when she bought a striking bay colt by Var for R4m on behalf of Fiona Carmichael, part-owner of Toronado and Ivawood.

In total, 200 yearlings were catalogued for the auction which takes place in the Cape Town International Convention Centre. On pedigrees it looked to be an excellent draft and there were indeed some outstanding looking individuals on offer to a strong contingent of local and overseas buyers.

The sale got off to a cracking start when the third lot through the ring, a daughter of Western Winter out of the National Assembly mare National Vixen, was sold by Klawervlei Stud for R3m to Goodhope Racing.

This was the first of 29 horses to reach six figures. Highlands Farm sold a daughter of Captain Al out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Our Table Mountain to Blandford Bloodstock

78

Cape Premier Yearling Sale Top lots Name/Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (R)

Buyer

Shining Knight (C Dynasty-Shina)

Maine Chance Farms

5,200,000

Wehann Smith

Moonrise Sensation (C Var-Earn A Moon)

Oldlands Stud

4,000,000

Amanda Skiffington

Lady Of The House (F Dynasty-Overarching)

Highlands Farm Stud

3,700,000

Mayfair Speculators

Last Winter (C Western Winter-Field Flower)

Maine Chance Farms

3,700,000

Form Bloodstock

F (Western Winter-National Vixen)

Klawervlei Stud

3,000,000

Goodhope Racing

C (Dynasty-Es La Vida)

Klawervlei Stud

3,000,000

Snaith Racing

Navarro (C Silvano-A Star For Maria)

Winterbach Stud (As Agent)

2,700,000

Mayfair Speculators

Live Life (F Trippi-Viva)

Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm 2,500,000

Wehann Smith

Cloth Of Cloud (F Captain Al-Our Table Mountain)

Highlands Farm Stud

Blandford Bloodstock

for R2.2m and then Markus Jooste’s Mayfair Speculators snapped up the following lot, a filly by Dynasty out of the Champion sprinter Overarching for R3.7m. Called Lady of The House, she was also consigned by Highlands Farm. Earlier in the session the same buyer has gone to R1m to secure Maine Chance Farms’ Silvano colt out of the Western Winter mare Paramo.

The aggregate of R120,450,000 was 16% up on 2014 with 187 yearling selling at an average of R644,118. While the top and middle markets were strong, there was value

“This is a terrific sale;

it reminds me of Magic Millions in Australia.

The quality of horses is exceptional” in the lower tier. Trainer Shane Humby signed for a bay filly by Seventh Rock out of Off To Danc, a half-sister to Captain Al, at R275,000, while Peter de Beyer paid R375,000 for a filly

by Dynasty out of the Jet Master mare Jet Maid.

Highlands Farm consigned the only Fort Wood yearling of the sale, a bay colt called The Carpenter out of the Linney Head mare Linsumi, who was knocked down to Mayfair Speculators for R1m. Less than 24 hours later Fort Wood died of a heart attack at Mauritzfontein Stud where he had stood for two decades. The son of Sadler’s Wells out of the great mare Fall Aspen was twice champion sire and sired three winners of the Equus Champion Horse of the Year. He has left a great legacy including his stallion sons Horse Chestnut and Dynasty, along with many outstanding daughters now at stud.

In fact, Dynasty topped the stallion rankings for the sale, his 17 yealings selling

2,200,000

for R24.7m – an average of R1,452,941. The ten yearlings by Western Winter sold for R14,050,000. Captain Al, Silvano, Var and Trippi were all well supported and newcomers Gimmethegreenlight and Philanthropist saw plenty of interest. Klawervlei Stud topped the vendor log on aggregate (R34,925,000) but with 53 lots they were the biggest consignor by some way. By average, Winterbach Stud were the most successful with two yearlings making R4.7m.

Mayfair Speculators topped the buyers table spending R21.5m for 15 yearlings, while Chris van Niekerk’s Rainbow Beach Trading spent R7,775,000 on 11 lots. The number of active overseas buyers is testament to the growing interest in South African bloodstock.

Commenting on the sale, Amanda Skiffington said: “This is a really terrific sale and it reminds me a lot of Magic Millions in Australia. The quality of the horses on offer is exceptional and I will definitely be back next year.”

CTS Chief Operating Officer Adrian Todd added: “We knew we had a quality draft of horses and a solid local and international buying bench. We have achieved exceptional results, which is a credit to the South African breeder and the South African thoroughbred.”

New Johannesburg sale The exclusive Peermont Emperors Palace Hotel will be the backdrop for the first auction to take place in Johannesburg, run by Cape Thoroughbred Sales.

On April 18, the inaugural Emperors Palace Select Yearling Sale will offer an elite band of youngsters, all of whom will be eligible for the 2017 CTS Million Dollar, Africa’s richest thoroughbred race, run at Turffontein.

The new one-day sale hopes to attract buyers from around the world to Johannesburg, where guests will have easy access to luxurious accommodation at the Emperors Palace.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

ownerbreeder ad pages 03.2015_OwnerBreeder Ad pages 03.2015 20/02/2015 09:51 Page 79

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Mar_127_Caulfield_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 13:49 Page 80

CAULFIELD FILES ANDREW CAULFIELD REPORTS ON THE BLOODSTOCK WORLD

US sires to follow

Experimental Free Handicap and Triple Crown Nominees highlight interesting names

I

t has long been said that England and America are two countries divided by a common language. More recently their racing industries have become divided by a common breed. They may all be thoroughbreds but this divide is fuelled by the different surfaces largely employed by the opposing industries, with the degree of separation increasingly being intensified by the various medication issues.

The extent of the gulf is illustrated by the latest European two-year-old ratings. Only six of the 50 juveniles which merited a rating of 110+ – that’s 3% – carry the USA suffix and the best of them, Hootenanny, ranks only jointtenth. Compare this to the equivalent European Free Handicap of 20 years earlier. In 1994, 69 juveniles were rated 110 or more, with 28 of them – roughly 40% – being imports from the US. These 28 included four of the top five colts.

Even as recently as ten years ago there were five American-breds among the top eight and altogether there were 14 among the 54 qualifiers – nearly 26%.

This suggests that European breeders, owners and bloodstock agents have been voting with their feet, feeling far safer in patronising the top European stallions (many of which would have headed to Kentucky had they been around in the 1970s and 1980s).

It is unrealistic, though, to think that the American industry has nothing to offer European racing. In an effort to put forward a few comparatively new names for consideration, it is worth looking at the stallions who were responsible for the most qualifiers for America’s Experimental Free Handicap and also at the stallions with the largest representations among the entries for America’s 2015 Triple Crown events.

There are no prizes for guessing that the most prolific sire of Triple Crown entries, with 14, is Tapit, a stallion whose 2015 fee of $300,000 is twice as high as that of the next highest-priced stallion, War Front.

But how many Europeans would have guessed that one of his nearest pursuers, with 12 entrants, would be Curlin? Sure, Curlin was twice voted Horse of the Year and finished first, second and third in the Triple Crown events.

But he has yet to prove that he is similarly effective as a stallion. Having started out at $75,000 in 2009, his fee in 2015 is less than half

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Graded stakes winners, headed by the Belmont Stakes and Metropolitan Handicap winner Palace Malice. However, there is reason for optimism. He has been peppering the target, with an impressive number of horses placed at Graded level, and it wouldn’t surprise me were he to make a breakthrough in 2015.

His third crop, numbering 89 three-year-olds, has already produced its first Graded winner in Ocean Knight, as well as four others who have been placed at Grade 1 or 2 level. He ranked second among the sires of Experimental qualifiers, with five, so his high number of Triple Crown entries is therefore not so surprising.

Curlin has several talented turf runners to his credit, while his sire Smart Strike has a respectable record with his European runners, so it could be interesting to see a few Curlins plying their trade in Europe.

that – $35,000 to be precise – and his slow start means that he has fewer than 40 yearlings in 2015.

“Curlin has several

talented turf runners; his sire Smart Strike has a respectable European record” Curlin’s record has so far been that of a ‘nearly’ horse. From 206 named foals in his first two crops, he has managed to sire just two

Lonhro’s sons Denman and Think back a few decades to a time when Britain and Ireland’s leading sires’ table reflected the enormous power of America’s breeding industry. Northern Dancer, Nijinsky, Blushing Groom, Danzig, Nureyev, Lyphard, Riverman, Alleged, Roberto, Vaguely Noble, The Minstrel, Mr Prospector and Sharpen Up all regularly made their presence felt, with a stream of top European performers.

However, it wasn’t long before several of those top European performers had more than redressed the balance, with such as Sadler’s Wells, Caerleon, Rainbow Quest, Green Desert, Danehill, Selkirk, Machiavellian and Alzao leading the way.

With the advent of the shuttle stallion, I expected to see another successful invasion, with the temporary visitors overwhelming the home defenders in Australia. Of course Danehill managed to do this almost singlehandedly, with his nine sires’ championships, but the local troops are fighting back strongly.

I guess it is only natural for breeders to feel more at ease with the local product – horses who thrived under Australia’s often-

demanding training regime and its speedorientated racing programme. So it isn’t so surprising that, in eight of the nine years since Danehill’s last championship, the title has gone to a domestically-raced son of a shuttle stallion. Three sons of Danehill have collectively notched up six titles, with Redoute’s Choice being responsible for four of them, and Fairy King’s son Encosta de Lago was champion on two occasions. The odd man out was Lonhro, a Horse of the Year by Horse of the Year Octagonal.

The Australian Jockey Club published interim figures for the 2014 breeding season in January and it is interesting to note that nine of the ten busiest stallions all carry the AUS suffix after their names. The interloper was Fiorente, an Irish-bred son of Monsun who attracted 186 mares on the strength of his victories in the Melbourne Cup and Australian Cup. Similarly, no northern hemisphere shuttle stallions made it into the top ten on the general sires’ list for 2013-14, though six of the top ten – Redoute’s Choice, Exceed And Excel, Fastnet Rock, Commands, Choisir and

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For an article in the March 2014 issue, I amalgamated the previous five editions of the Experimental Free Handicap to see which stallions cropped up most frequently. I was surprised that the very decisive leader, with a total of 24 individual two-year-olds, was the champion middle-distance turf horse Kitten’s Joy. Though he didn’t even tackle stakes company as a two-year-old, Kitten’s Joy has reinforced his position by siring six qualifiers for the 2014 Experimental – more than any other stallion.

With his ability to sire top turf horses proven time and again, Kitten’s Joy can be expected to become a significant player with his European representatives.

One of the encouraging aspects of this study is that several first-crop sires figured prominently among the prolific sires of Experimental horses and Triple Crown nominees. These include the 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (four Experimental horses and nine Triple Crown entries); the unexpected Temple City (a son of Dynaformer with four Experimental horses and six Triple Crown nominees from a crop of 83 named foals); and Lookin At Lucky (three and ten).

Lookin At Lucky had the rare distinction of having been the champion of his generation

2015 Triple Crown Nominees – Leading Sires Tapit Curlin Tiznow Giant’s Causeway Lookin At Lucky Malibu Moon Quality Road Medaglia d’Oro Super Saver War Front Candy Ride (ARG) Street Boss Congrats Distorted Humor Indian Charlie

14 12 12 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 7 7 7

both at two and three, and he shares the same sire, Smart Strike, as Curlin.

Two other first-crop sires, Majesticperfection and Munnings, scored three each on the Experimental, but these two were sprinters, so neither figure among the leading sires of Triple Crown horses. Munnings, though, could be one worthy of interest from Europeans, as his sire Speightstown has shown he can get good European runners, such as Lord Shanakill,

Lemon Drop Kid Midshipman Smart Strike Street Cry (IRE) Street Sense Eskendereya More Than Ready Temple City Unbridled’s Song Warrior’s Reward Bellamy Road Bernardini Harlan’s Holiday Pioneerof The Nile Scat Daddy

7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5

Tropics, Bapak Chinta and Calypso Beat.

Watch out too for Hootenanny’s sire Quality Road. In addition to siring Hootenanny, who ranked equal third among the males on the Experimental with a rating of 122, Quality Road was also responsible for Blofeld, an unbeaten dual Grade 2 winner who received 119. This Lane’s End stallion has ten Triple Crown nominees from a crop of 96, so is clearly one to watch.

Pierro among Australia’s busiest stallions Encosta de Lago – have all done the reverse shuttle to Europe at one time or another.

I should add that the presence of only one shuttle stallion among the ten busiest stallions may owe something to numerical limits being imposed on some of the shuttlers (the one exception, Danehill’s champion son Fastnet Rock, covered only 85 mares on his last visit to Ireland. In 2013, though, he had covered 190 mares in Ireland followed by 212 a few months later in Australia).

The ten busiest stallions, who each covered between 180 and 220 mares, illustrate the long-term contribution that shuttle stallions have made to Australia. Three of the ten are sons of shuttle stallions, namely I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), Sebring (More Than Ready) and Fastnet Rock (Danehill).

Then there’s Snitzel, a son of Redoute’s Choice; Smart Missile, a son of Fastnet Rock; and Zoustar, a grandson of Encosta de Lago.

Lonhro, the Australian Horse of the Year mentioned earlier, is responsible for two of the ten busiest stallions, including table-topper Pierro. This champion two-year-old had also been the busiest first-season sire in 2013,

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covering a book of 199 at a fee of AUS$77,000.

Pierro’s appeal stems from the fact that he is a Golden Slipper Stakes winner with a pedigree free of Danehill (his first three dams are daughters of Daylami, Sadler’s Wells and Shirley Heights). It has been said that Pierro could potentially change the face of Australian breeding and there have been rave reports on his first foals.

As he stands at Coolmore Australia it is perhaps surprising that he hasn’t yet been asked to do the reverse shuttle to Ireland. He was, after all, unbeaten in six starts as a Name Pierro (AUS) Snitzel (AUS) I Am Invincible (AUS) Smart Missile (AUS) Sebring (AUS) Fastnet Rock (AUS) Fiorente (IRE) Zoustar (AUS) Love Conquers All (AUS) Denman (AUS)

Mares 220 214 211 210 192 189 186 185 181 180

juvenile, so should appeal to Irish breeders, and he boosted his total of Group 1 successes to five as a three-year-old. A high-class sprintermiler, he earned a World Thoroughbred ranking of 122 as a three-year-old. Perhaps the decision not to shuttle him simply reflects the huge demand for Pierro’s services in Australia, where he can undoubtedly command a substantially higher fee than he would in Ireland.

Maybe, though, the note of caution was struck by the fact that his grandsire, Octagonal, failed to shine when he shuttled to France.

Farm Coolmore Arrowfield Yarraman Park Arrowfield Widden Stud Coolmore Eliza Park Int’l Widden Stud Eliza Park Int’l Darley

Fee (A$) 77,000 71,500 27,500 22,000 60,500 Private 17,600 44,000 11,000 33,000

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ROA FORUM The special section for ROA members

Racing right consultation is launched Richard Wayman says prospects beyond 2015 emphasise the need for change in the sport By the time the final afternoon of this month’s Cheltenham Festival is under way, British racing will have explained to the government how a horserace betting right can provide the answer to the future funding of our sport.

This will be within the industry’s joint response to a consultation document launched by the Sports Minister Helen Grant at the beginning of February that explores how such a mechanism, also known as a racing right, could replace the Horserace Betting Levy.

The levy was introduced at the beginning of the 1960s following the legalisation of high-street betting shops but has become out of step with the modern betting environment, with damaging consequences for racing.

All political parties agree the status quo is not an option and, since the middle of last year, there have been a series of consultations aiming to establish a long-term solution for a modern, fair and sustainable relationship between racing and betting that also removes the government from the process of determining racing’s funding.

One option is to reform the levy by attempting to fix its wide-ranging structural shortcomings. The alternative, and much preferred route in the ROA’s view, is to

replace the levy with a racing right, thereby supporting a direct, commercially-based partnership between the two interdependent industries.

With racing contributing £3.45 billion a year to the economy and supporting 85,000 full-time jobs, mainly in rural areas, this issue has implications for the wider economy and nobody is better placed than racehorse owners to understand its significance.

“It would make it

unlawful to offer bets on UK racing without authorisation” Although prize-money should reach £130 million this year, there has been no progress in real terms over the past ten years and the number of owners has been in decline since 2007, falling by almost 17%. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities reports the average recovery of training costs by owners in Britain stood at 24% in 2013, compared with 53% in France.

Although, to its credit, the Levy Board has directed an increasing share of its declining income to prize-money and, in addition, a number of betting operators have made welcome and much-needed voluntary

contributions, the upshot is a growing crisis talked about on a daily basis in the guise of small fields, uncompetitive racing and an increasingly unappealing betting product.

The Levy Board has issued a warning that its income in recent months has suffered a greater than expected decline, which will mean reductions in its expenditure in 2016.

In addition, the large retail bookmakers may choose not to repeat their £4.5m voluntary contribution and so it is long odds-on there will be a significant hit to prize-money next year, resulting in more ROA members calling time on racehorse ownership, which would exacerbate the competitiveness issues.

There is an urgent need for change and a racing right provides the solution, enabling the sport to authorise all betting services on its product in return for a contribution from betting firms towards the administration, integrity and future development of the industry. Crucially, it would make it unlawful for a betting provider to offer bets on British racing to British-based customers without authorisation, creating a level playing field between all betting operators.

The stakes couldn’t be higher and during a week when the focus will be on events at Cheltenham, it is simply wrong that so many of the bets placed on the Festival won’t contribute a penny towards the costs of the sport and the livelihoods of the people behind our equine heroes. The importance of racing’s submission to the consultation cannot be overstated.

Have you ever wanted to sit on the ROA Council?

Each year the ROA Council elections give ROA members an opportunity to stand for election to the Council. The ROA currently has a Council of 16 members who serve a term of three years.

To qualify to stand for election, members must be a registered owner with at least one horse in training in Britain at some time during the previous 12 months, or part-ownerships that amount to at least one horse. Horses owned under the names of spouses qualify for this purpose.

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The ROA has a diverse membership and represents owners at all levels of ownership.

While commitment and passion are necessary attributes, we would particularly like to encourage applications from members who feel they may be able to contribute a specialist skill, knowledge or expertise to the Council.

Council members are required to attend monthly Council meetings in London, and could expect to become involved in committees and some regional activities

on behalf of the ROA. There are three vacancies on the Council each year, with Council members serving a maximum of three consecutive terms.

If you would like to apply to stand for Council, or would like to find out more information, please contact Richard Wayman, ROA Chief Executive, on rwayman@roa.co.uk or via the ROA office on 020 7152 0200.

The closing date for applications is Thursday, April 2.

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www.racehorseowners.net

Five days of the Punchestown festival can be enjoyed for free by ROA members in a collaboration with foreign owners’ bodies

Free racing on major days in Ireland and France The ROA is delighted to announce an exciting collaboration with our equivalent organisations in France and Ireland that will provide a number of benefits to ROA members planning to go racing in those countries this year.

Following discussions with the ownership department of France Galop and the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO), we have entered a reciprocal arrangement that will enable ROA members to gain free admission to some major European race meetings and festivals including, on some of these racedays, complimentary access to private member facilities. In return, French and Irish owners will be able to access our facilities at the Cheltenham Festival.

Admission to racecourses and facilities at participating Irish fixtures will be on production of a valid Horseracing Privilege Photocard. Admission and access to the listed facilities in France will be subject to booking online via the ROA website. Full information will be updated on the Events page on the ROA website as available, and members on the ebulletin service will be emailed details.

ROA members going racing in France and Ireland will be able to enjoy free access at the meetings in the table. In addition, to celebrate the 150th running of the Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 27, ROA members are being offered a ‘Friends & Family’ 20% discount offer on general admission and day member tickets.

The offer applies to tickets booked in advance. To book, visit www.curragh.ie and use the promo code ROA15.

The ROA, AIRO and France Galop will be working to build on this initiative to enhance the ownership experience in all three countries.

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Punchestown: Irish NH Festival Tuesday, April 28 – Saturday, May 2 inclusive

Access to members’ marquee and complimentary snack refreshments

Curragh: Irish 2,000 Guineas Saturday, May 23

Free admission to racecourse and access to members’ suite, plus complimentary snacks/refreshments

Chantilly: Prix du Jockey Club Sunday, May 31

Access to the Jardin des Propriétaires – owners’ outdoor garden party located against the racetrack and close to the finish line

Curragh: Day 3 of the Irish Derby festival Sunday, June 28

Free admission to the racecourse and access to the Curragh Rooms, which overlook the parade ring, plus complimentary snacks/refreshments

Galway Festival Monday July 27, Tuesday July 28, Wednesday, July 29, Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1

Access to members’ marquee and complimentary snack refreshments – please note this facility will not be open to ROA members on Thursday, July 30 or Sunday, August 2

Deauville in August 17 days including five Group 1s: Prix Rothschild (August 2), Prix Maurice de Gheest (August 9), Prix Guillaume d’Ornano (August 15), Prix Jacques Le Marois (August 16) and Prix Morny (August 23)

Access to the Jardin des Propriétaires – owners’ garden outdoor lounge with permanent catering between the weighing area and parade ring

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ROA FORUM

MAGICAL MOMENTS

TERRY FISHER

with ROA member Malcolm Hooker

Malcolm and Jackie Hooker with the brothers Buckhorn Timothy (left, with Danni Jones) and Buckhorn Tom (with Leia Crocker)

E

xeter’s January 19 meeting was one of those unremarkable cards that just happened to serve up a remarkable feat: full-brothers winning within a couple of hours of each other.

Step forward Buckhorn Tom and Buckhorn Timothy, owned and bred by Malcolm Hooker, who lives with his wife Jackie at Tom Thumb Farm in Buckhorn Weston, Dorset. You can join those dots yourself.

Aged 73, Hooker had to delve into the memory banks to explain his background in racing and how he came to be having so much fun with the siblings, who he shares with his wife and other close friends.

“I was good friends with the famous tipster Bob Butchers, the original Newsboy on the Daily Mirror,” explains Hooker. “He was well into cricket as well as racing, as was my granddad, who survived World War I. He was a gardener and a lovely old boy, and we used to talk about racing. My interest in horses came through him.

“I had a law practice in Fleet – we moved here in 2002 after retiring – and ran cricket teams and clubs. Bob became the chairman of a club and I was captaining a team. We went racing during the winter, and then when my wife and I got together in the eighties – she was an event rider – we became interested in breeding a horse.

“She was a friend of Peter Hedger and we

84

“They are both quite

young horses in National Hunt terms and hopefully can win again” ended up buying a horse called Smart In Sable, who is actually the grand-dam of Buckhorn Tom and Timothy. We bred Waimea Bay out of Smart In Sable, and she’s still with us here and now in foal to Geordieland.

“We sent her to Tamure to produce Buckhorn Tom and Timothy and they’ve both done really well, with the promise of more to come. Colin Tizzard, who’s not far away, trains them, and we have a brilliant relationship with him.

“They come here when they’re not in training, and my wife, who is now doing dressage, does roadwork with them. She prefers to ride Tom, while Chloe, a girl who helps us out, likes Timothy, so that works well!”

Buckhorn Tom, the elder at seven, has won twice and been placed eight times from 20 starts at the time of writing, while six-year-old Buckhorn Timothy has likewise won a couple,

and been placed five times, from 13 runs.

Tom is already chasing, and having finished a fine third in this season’s Devon Marathon he is seen as a regional National horse for next season, with perhaps the Welsh and Scottish Nationals as ambitions, while there is an outside chance Timothy might qualify for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham this month.

Again, though, it is chasing next season that is seen as his forte.

Hopefully, then, there are magical moments ahead for the owners, although they already have that marvellous day at Exeter in the bag.

“I’ve played a lot of cricket but to have two horses you bred and own win the same day, that really was just an unbelievable feeling,” recounts Hooker. “That is the highlight so far, but they are both quite young horses in National Hunt terms and hopefully both can win again.

“They’re both very genuine and we’ve been so lucky. The fun all the owners get out of them is the best part. It’s exciting and we all enjoy it so much.”

Ludlow, Taunton and Exeter were all praised

by Hooker for their facilities for owners, and improvements made, while Ascot got a verdict of “breathtakingly good”. He admits however he is “not a great lover of crowds”.

Claustrophobic or not, if his Buckhorn brothers keep progressing he might have to get used to them!

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w w w. r a c e h o r s e o w n e r s . n e t

Jackpot joy at Chelmsford

Diary dates and reminders MARCH 19

ROA regional meeting and Owners Jackpot at Ludlow The ROA heads to Ludlow for its first regional meeting of the year – and a £10,000 Owners Jackpot will be shared among ROA winners on the day.

MARCH 27

ROA member visit to Alan King Racing Visit to Alan King’s Barbury Castle Stables in Wroughton, near Swindon. This is now fully booked.

The ROA Owners Jackpot kicked off 2015 at Chelmsford City on January 28.

Five eligible owners were successful on the afternoon, with each scooping £2,000 on top of their prize-money. The winners included Forceful Appeal (pictured) for Simon Caunce, Trimoulet in the colours of Gary and Lesley Middlebrook and The Dandy Yank for Chris Watkins and David Reynolds.

Foundation pays out £1.4m The Racing Foundation was established in 2012 to ensure the racing industry has an appropriate vehicle to accept and distribute charitable funds arising from the government’s sale of the Tote.

Following receipt of the final payment of Tote sale proceeds, the Racing Foundation has now invested the entire £78 million and will be expanding its grant-making activity from 2015.

The Foundation’s aim is to support charitable purposes associated with the horseracing and thoroughbred breeding industry. It does this by investing the Tote sale proceeds to generate income, and uses the income to make grants to charities.

By the end of 2014 the Foundation had granted more than £1.4m to a range of racing charities across the UK and in particular to those associated with social welfare, education and training, thoroughbred horse welfare, heritage and culture, and equine science research.

Funds distributed to support people in racing

include £150,000 to the Racing Centre in Newmarket (formerly the New Astley Club) to introduce a physiotherapy suite and gym and upgrade the club’s facilities. A further grant of £225,000 to the Racing Centre has enabled the establishment of its Racefit programme, and a specialist injury rehabilitation service at the UK’s largest centre of racing employment.

The Racing Foundation has supported a range of joint initiatives between the British Racing School and the Northern Racing College, including a grant of £98,609 to deliver a life skills programme for three years to help prepare students for independent living and to cope with their first experience of employment. A grant of £120,000 was given to deliver a flexible learning programme for those aged 14-16 interested in a career in racing, while £44,321 was provided to Retraining of Racehorses to help expand their network of regional advisers and enhance their education programme.

APRIL 9

Crabbie’s Grand National meeting opening day Free admission to ROA members on production of their ROA Horseracing Privilege Photocard. Car park labels for the day are available on request from the ROA office.

APRIL 29

Owners Jackpot at Pontefract Another £10,000 jackpot will be shared among ROA-owned winners on the day.

MAY 13

ROA regional meeting and Owners Jackpot at Perth The Owners Jackpot heads to Scotland.

Details of events are listed online at racehorseowners.net in the ‘Events’ section.

Bookings can be made online or by calling the ROA on 0207 152 0200

The Foundation’s grant-making activity is expected to increase substantially in 2015, with additional funding rounds and an enhanced range of grant programmes. The full review, details of grants already made and information on grant programmes can be found at www.racingfoundation.co.uk.

Last call for ROA Cheltenham Marquee!

AP McCoy: Festival farewell

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

The ROA has an exclusive marquee for the four days of the Cheltenham Festival, March 10-13, which will witness champion jockey AP McCoy’s swansong at Prestbury Park.

The marquee provides unreserved seating, with television viewing and a cash bar. Hot and cold food is available to purchase.

Members and guests will be able to enjoy complimentary tea and coffee in the facility each day.

Members can book badges for themselves and up to three guest badges each day.

Marquee badges do not provide admission into the racecourse. Bookings will close on Monday, March 2 and until then can be made at racehorseowners.net or 020 7152 0200.

Member

Guest

Daily

£30

£40

Weekly

£85

£125

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ROA FORUM

France falls into line over prize-money payments The European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation (EMHF) has announced that the way in which prizemoney is to be paid by the major European racing nations of France, Britain and Ireland has been standardised.

Prize-money won in France will now be distributed as separate payments to the trainer and owner, regardless of where the horse in question is trained.

It is intended that this will overcome difficulties previously encountered by connections who won prize-money in France, when the trainer’s share was subsumed into the owner’s share of prize-money, and connections were left to sort out the split .

Connections of horses trained outside these countries will receive

the percentages as applied in the country staging the race. This is consistent with the general principle that, when one races in another jurisdiction, one is subject to that jurisdiction’s Rules of Racing. It is the EMHF’s aim that this should become the norm across the European and Mediterranean region.

Dr Paull Khan, Secretary-General of the EMHF, commented: “This is a fine example of international collaboration and harmonisation of practices. We had received some complaints from trainers who had reported difficulties in securing due payment of their share from their owners.

“This measure should guarantee and speed up the receipt by trainers of any foreign prize-money shares due to them, whilst reducing the administrative burden on owners.”

Monthly prize for members’ raceday views In 2015, the Gold Standard Award will be awarded only to the six large and six small racecourses that are considered to provide owners with the best raceday experience.

All racecourses will be visited by a member of the Raceday Committee, with the winners announced at the end of the year. As part of the selection criteria, we would welcome the views of members who have runners to report on their experience, as member feedback will play a significant role in the judging process to select the 12 award winners.

Providing feedback is very quick and easy to do. The ROA website, racehorseowners.net, includes a feedback form in the Raceday section.

A good number of members have already used the online form to report on their experiences and this is proving very helpful to the Raceday Committee and in our liaison with racecourses.

To encourage members to continue to participate and submit feedback throughout the year we will be offering a monthly prize draw to win £50 of John Lewis vouchers. Every month, starting from March, all members who provide feedback will be included in the prize draw. A winner will be randomly selected and we will publish details of winners in future issues.

Zarkandar enjoyed a big pay-day at Auteuil in November

JCR wristlets a welcome initiative Jockey Club Racecourses have, since the middle of January, been trialling the issue of entry wristlets to owners. Six wristlets are sent out at entry stage, with a covering letter containing pre-raceday information, explaining that these wristlets can be used by family and friends in addition to the owner’s existing badge entitlement.

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This has been a very positive initiative, welcomed by members, and is an excellent way to enable owners to arrange to take friends and family racing on days when they have a runner.

The trial is due to run until March 31, excluding the four days of the Cheltenham Festival.

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Royal approval for new housing development R O A O F F I C I A L C H A R I T Y PA R T N E R On February 17, Racing Welfare’s latest accommodation and resource development, 4 Old Maltongate, was opened officially by the charity’s President, HRH The Princess Royal. A reception and plaque unveiling was held at The Old Lodge hotel, with groups of attendees taken on tours of the property. Responses to the development were overwhelmingly positive from the local racehorse trainers, civic officials, racing press and racing industry leaders in attendance.

The property will provide young people entering the racing industry in the North Yorkshire racing centre of Malton with comfortable, secure homes and added personal support from the local Racing Welfare team. The accommodation is already home to six young stable staff who moved into the property during January, prior to the official opening.

The ground floor of the converted property houses Racing Welfare’s regional welfare office, with the upper floors converted into four bedrooms, a communal lounge, kitchen and bathrooms.

The community suite, incorporating IT facilities and a social space, was funded by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani and his Qatar Racing Team, using part of the £200,000 they raised by running the London Marathon in 2014. It has been named the ‘Elm Park Suite’, after Qatar Racing’s 2014 winner of the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster.

The project has been supported financially by a number of generous donations, including

Princess Anne meets residents Jessica Burley, Chloe Briody and Georgia Morrill

major contributions from York racecourse and from the fund set up after the tragic fire in Norton. In 2009 ROA members also helped with fundraising for the fire disaster appeal, donating more than £17,000 through the annual Horseracing Awards.

Through its own housing association, Racing Homes, Racing Welfare has built up a portfolio of 160-plus properties nationwide, and aims to

provide good quality affordable rental accommodation for those aged 16- 24, the frail and elderly, and working staff suffering financial hardship or other disadvantage.

The Association owns and manages housing on behalf of Racing Welfare and, along with Malton, has properties located in Kingsclere, Lambourn, Middleham, Newmarket and West Ilsley.

In Brief...

Don’t miss out on Plus 10 bonuses Owners of Plus 10-eligible two-year-olds are reminded that to qualify their horse to win £10,000 bonuses when the Flat racing season commences at the end of March, they will need to ensure the final owner registration fee is paid by March 31.

The bonus scheme launches in Britain on Saturday, March 28 with a £30,000 bonus prize pool that will be split between Doncaster, Kempton Park and Chelmsford City.

In the event a horse is entered for a race held prior to the registration deadline, it must be qualified prior to declaration.

For further information on the Plus 10 bonus scheme, including registration deadlines and to search eligible horses, visit www.plus10bonus.com.

Later closing date for the Investec Oaks Trainers and owners have six weeks longer to decide on Investec Oaks entries this year, with the fillies’ Classic closing at noon on Tuesday, April 14 rather than in early March.

The Investec Coronation Cup for older horses will also close on the

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

same day, which is a week later than in previous years.

Explaining the changes, Andrew Cooper, Head of Racing at Epsom Downs, said: “We have felt for some time that the first week of March is early enough in this day and age for us to be seeking entries for a race of this nature in three months’ time – particularly given how fillies can be slow to come to hand in the spring.”

The 2015 Oaks is boosted in value to £450,000, up from £425,000 last year. As a result, and in line with BHA guidelines, the cost of entry for the Oaks rises to £1,500 from £1,325.

ROA EGM A Racehorse Owners Association Extraordinary General Meeting was held on Thursday, February 5 at The Stafford Hotel, London.

The purpose of the meeting was to approve 17 Special Resolutions, largely relating to the composition of the Council.

Each of the resolutions, detailed in the February magazine, was passed and the revised Articles of Association are available at racehorseowners.net.

We would like to thank all members who took the trouble to vote.

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Flat Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Ascot York Epsom Downs Newmarket Goodwood Chester Doncaster Newbury Sandown Park Haydock Park Musselburgh Chelmsford City Ripon Pontefract Ayr Lingfield Park Salisbury Thirsk Ffos Las Newcastle Hamilton Park Beverley Kempton Park Carlisle Leicester Nottingham Windsor Bath Catterick Bridge Wolverhampton Yarmouth Redcar Chepstow Brighton Warwick Southwell Total

Figures for period February 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2013-14 (£)

I I JCR JCR I I ARC I JCR JCR I I I I I ARC I I I ARC I I JCR JCR I JCR ARC ARC I ARC ARC I ARC ARC JCR ARC

360,861 169,619 118,711 91,930 88,884 81,446 64,832 55,785 54,675 47,465 39,444 39,098 31,611 30,775 30,759 27,897 27,442 27,174 24,490 23,350 22,641 21,852 21,319 21,234 20,104 19,898 19,707 17,760 16,912 16,625 16,478 16,378 13,169 12,786 11,757 10,922 41,096

140,561 101,795 84,726 85,792 77,199 47,063 60,088 61,138 56,651 48,867 25,367 19,272 28,557 33,991 33,722 25,760 30,130 21,832 9,578 23,269 21,083 19,205 18,215 17,357 22,309 22,393 22,168 15,996 20,273 19,635 20,188 19,911 14,808 16,723 16,166 20,611 34,057

218,152 93,710 109,390 90,483 26,402 10,055 43,732 27,621 23,058 17,037 5,677 3,630 4,658 3,719 9,959 4,350 4,942 5,603 3,323 7,075 3,333 2,954 3,831 3,945 4,822 5,427 4,795 3,165 2,739 2,902 3,389 14,820 2,874 2,481 3,305 2,020 18,282

719,574 365,418 312,828 268,461 192,709 138,898 169,246 144,853 134,759 113,796 70,489 62,000 64,825 68,485 74,735 58,115 63,181 54,943 37,390 54,532 47,058 44,289 43,569 42,689 47,521 48,153 47,040 37,671 40,276 39,266 40,273 51,108 31,620 31,991 31,228 33,553 93,663

18 17 11 39 19 15 24 17 16 23 17 3 16 15 17 93 15 15 7 17 18 18 86 13 21 23 27 20 17 95 23 18 13 21 6 47 880

12,952,340 6,212,100 3,441,104 10,469,983 3,661,465 2,083,471 4,061,900 2,462,493 2,156,139 2,666,084 1,198,306 186,000 1,037,208 1,027,280 1,270,500 5,404,726 947,720 824,139 243,035 927,050 847,044 797,200 3,746,933 554,959 997,934 1,107,519 1,270,087 753,415 684,700 3,730,309 926,282 919,950 411,058 671,809 187,365 1,577,013 82,416,618

349,480 160,032 120,544 91,698 84,714 77,393 54,738 46,673 53,586 41,800 31,993 N/A 27,030 28,935 29,569 16,242 27,239 20,943 23,461 20,782 17,024 17,864 20,297 21,280 18,719 16,842 20,262 14,678 15,840 12,894 12,327 15,226 10,464 8,671 15,897 9,240 36,623

Up/ down

▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲

Jumps Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

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Aintree Cheltenham Ascot Sandown Park Haydock Park Kempton Park Newbury Ayr Doncaster Perth Wincanton Kelso Ludlow Chepstow Musselburgh Cartmel Wetherby Warwick Stratford-on-Avon Newcastle Market Rasen Newton Abbot Fakenham Carlisle Ffos Las Exeter Huntingdon Uttoxeter Bangor-on-Dee Hexham Catterick Bridge Fontwell Park Lingfield Park Taunton Plumpton Worcester Sedgefield Leicester Southwell Towcester Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2013 (£)

JCR JCR I JCR JCR JCR I I ARC I JCR I I ARC I I I JCR I ARC JCR I I JCR I JCR JCR ARC I I I ARC ARC I I ARC ARC I ARC I

248,442 220,359 131,352 104,595 99,675 50,130 43,140 29,987 26,957 25,650 25,566 25,512 25,390 25,309 24,987 24,425 24,387 23,205 22,552 22,504 21,817 21,497 21,229 20,340 19,938 19,277 18,808 18,468 18,366 16,447 15,996 15,734 15,607 15,313 14,184 14,083 13,772 12,790 11,866 10,971 33,982

120,439 111,903 82,206 82,432 83,233 66,251 72,990 38,051 39,334 22,799 32,675 32,361 30,704 31,324 29,827 18,129 26,305 34,355 18,394 33,281 25,095 26,962 18,712 24,763 21,669 29,193 22,050 20,599 17,185 16,478 25,350 22,048 25,570 22,258 25,002 18,487 19,284 25,487 19,655 15,994 32,822

69,741 56,741 16,921 17,344 17,087 10,358 15,884 9,827 6,159 1,953 4,918 3,100 4,804 6,473 4,631 4,014 4,550 5,414 3,866 4,694 4,431 0 0 3,941 3,729 4,659 3,960 4,520 3,421 2,433 2,691 3,118 2,679 3,595 3,373 3,263 2,828 3,779 2,851 2,762 7,202

439,497 389,004 231,729 205,482 201,316 126,889 132,015 79,015 72,904 50,516 63,177 61,973 60,898 63,106 60,146 46,568 55,405 62,974 44,976 60,479 51,676 48,459 39,941 49,860 45,336 53,566 44,818 43,709 38,973 35,880 44,237 40,900 43,855 41,166 42,559 35,833 36,234 42,089 34,372 29,727 74,236

8 16 8 9 8 12 11 12 11 16 17 13 16 15 10 7 19 10 17 10 21 18 12 12 19 16 16 23 14 14 9 20 6 15 15 22 20 9 18 16 559

3,515,977 6,224,063 1,853,832 1,849,339 1,524,247 1,522,666 1,452,162 948,181 801,949 808,250 1,074,011 805,646 974,373 946,589 601,456 325,975 1,052,690 629,739 764,600 604,794 1,085,200 872,259 479,296 598,318 838,713 857,059 717,085 1,005,299 545,618 502,319 398,134 818,001 263,132 617,490 638,383 788,317 724,679 378,800 618,695 475,637 41,502,970

232,451 219,787 99,514 75,986 86,483 51,474 48,217 141,541 17,074 28,814 22,543 17,395 19,666 23,023 21,436 24,931 20,558 18,507 18,614 18,391 20,168 20,588 14,826 14,468 13,423 16,675 19,276 10,908 11,416 12,838 11,242 13,275 8,956 12,052 14,070 12,278 6,089 10,856 12,139 9,864 30,276

Up/ down

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲

EXPLANATION The tables set out the average prize-money at each fixture staged by a racecourse over the last 12 months. They show how this is made up of the three sources of prizemoney: 1. Racecourses’ contribution 2. Levy Board (HBLB) 3. Owners The tables also confirm the number of fixtures staged and the total amount of prize-money paid out by each racecourse throughout this period.

The racecourses are ordered by the average amount of their own contribution to prizemoney at each fixture. This contribution originates from various sources including media rights, admission revenues and racecourse sponsors.

If a racecourse has increased its average contribution at each fixture compared with the previous 12 months, it receives a green ‘up’ arrow. If its average contribution has fallen, however, it receives a red ‘down’ arrow.

As these tables are based on the prize-money paid out by each racecourse, the abandonment of a major fixture could distort a racecourse’s performance.

OWNERSHIP KEY JCR Jockey Club Racecourses

ARC Arena Racing Company

I Independently owned racecourse

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

ownerbreeder ad pages 03.2015_OwnerBreeder Ad pages 03.2015 20/02/2015 15:29 Page 89

Standing at BEECH TREE STUD

APPLE TREE

GEORDIELAND

Chesnut 1989, 16.2hh BIKALA X POMME ROSE

Grey 2001, 16.3hh JOHANN QUATZ X AERDEE

Ultra tough and consistent four-time Gr.1 winner Sire of tough and classy horses like himself incl: LOUGH DERG, POMME TIEPY, ONIRALOIN, OEIL DE SIVOLA, MODIAL JACK, QOZAK, PROPHETE DE GUME, ELYUL FIRTINASI, COSMOLEYDO, LINE APPLE, PROUESSE COLLOGNES, AUCTION GIRL, BRAMLYNN BROOK. Third season at Beech Tree Stud 2010

Multiple Group and Stakes winner Won 7 races from 3 to 8 years, 9 to 16 furlongs, £541,601, and was placed 20 times.

Consistently rated over 120 in Racehorses.

First foals 2013 Stud Fee: £1,500 (Oct 1st terms)

Stud Fee: £1,500 (Oct 1st terms)

Upton Noble, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6AX Contact: Allan Munnis • Tel: 01749 850786 • Mobile: 07711 072362 • Email: judyandallan@gmail.com

STALLIONS STANDING FOR 2015

DONCASTER ROVER

BURWAAZ

Bay 2009, by EXCEED AND EXCEL – NIDHAAL by OBSERVATORY Fee: £2,500

Out of a 2yo Stakes winner, from a Classic family

Bay 2006, by WAR CHANT – REBRIDLED DREAMS, by UNBRIDLED’S SONG

Won Enderby Maiden S, 5f, Leicester, Fav by 2L, at 2.

2nd Gr.2 Flying Childers S, 5f, Doncaster, at 2, beaten a s/h, to Requinto, beating Lilbourne Lad (Gr.2), Caledonia Lady (Gr.3), Angels Will Fall (Gr.3), Kohala, My Propeller, Miss Lahar, etc.

2nd Gr.3 Molecomb S, 5f, Goodwood (in record time), to Requinto, beating Charles The Great (Gr.2), Miss Work Of Art, Pyman’s Theory, etc.

3rd Gr.2 Gimcrack S, 6f, york, at 2, to Caspar Netscher, beating Justineo, Reply, B Fifty Two, etc.

3rd L Pavilion S, 6f, Kempton, at 3, beating B Fifty Two, etc 3rd L King Richard III S, 7f, Leicester, at 4 to Producer (Gr.2), Aljamaarheer (Gr.2), beating Majestic Myles, etc.

MR MEDICI

NEW

Bay 2005, MEDICEAN – WAY FOR LIFE (PLATINI) Fee: £1,250

Gr.1 winner, tough and sound over several seasons

Won Gr.1

Champions and Chater Cup, 12f, Sha Tin, beating Viva Pataca (Gr.1 x 8), Packing Winner (Gr.1), Fat Choy Ichiban (Gr.1), Super Satin (Gr.1), Super Pistachio (Gr.2) and Uramazin (Gr.2).

Won Gr.3D Premier Plate, 9f, Sha Tin, with top weight, beating Bullish Cash (Gr.3), Jamesina (Gr.3), etc.

Won Gr.3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup, 12f, Sha Tin, beating Jamesina, Viva Macau (Gr.3), etc.

2nd Gr.2 Chairman’s Trophy, 8f, Sha Tin, beating Viva Pataca, Beauty Flash (Gr.1), Sight Winner (Gr.1), Collection (Gr.1), Unique Jewellery (Gr.2), etc.

Fee: £2,000

Tough and consistent multiple Stakes winner with solid Group form over several seasons

Won 5 races from 2 to 5 years, 5-7f, £206,654, and was placed 17 times, from 47 starts, 34 in Group/ Stakes company: Won LR City of York Stakes, 7f, York, beating Regal Parade (multiple Gr.1, at level weights), King Torus (Gr.2, rec. 3 lbs), Across The Rhine (Gr.3), etc.

Won LR Hopeful Stakes, 6f, Newmarket, beating Bated Breath (multiple Gr.2, rec. 3 lbs), Sir Gerry (Gr.2), etc.

Won LR Queensferry Stakes, 6f, Chester, beating Tournedos (Gr.3), etc.

Won Lily Agnes Stakes, 5f, Chester, at 2 years, beating Aspen Darlin (Gr.3), etc.

WESTLAKE

Bay 2004, by SADLER’S WELLS – RAINBOW LAKE, by RAINBOW QUEST Fee: On

Application

VERY CLOSE WINNING RELATION TO FRANKEL

Won 3 races at 3 years, £26,088, and was placed 3 times, all his starts.

Won conditions race, 12f, Listowel, beating Larkwing (Gr.3, recd 8 lbs), New Spirit (Stakes placed, recd 20 lbs).

Won maiden at Leopardstown, 12f, beating Captain Cee Bee (Gr.1 Supreme Novice Hurdle, Gr.1 Ryanair Chase, etc), Farmer Brown (Galway Hurdle, Grade One placed), Sesenta (Ebor Handicap).

2nd Maiden, Leopardstown, 12f, to Honolulu (Gr.2), btn ½ length.

HEDGEHOLME STUD WINSTON, DARLINGTON, CO. DURHAM DL2 3RS. Terms and conditions apply

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Enquiries: ANDREW SPALDING • Telephone: 01325 730209 • Mobile: 079 90 518751 • Fax: 01325 730769 e-mail: andrew@hedgeholmestud.co.uk • www.hedgeholmestud.co.uk

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TBA FORUM The special section for TBA members

TBA Stallion Parade draws large crowd at Tattersalls

By Robyn Collyer

T

he Tattersalls February Sale signals the start of the new breeding season and whilst there are rumours of spring, Newmarket was still clinging to winter with frosty determination. However, the morning of the sale quickly heated up with the Annual TBA Stallion Parade which drew a large crowd to fill the sales ring.

The line-up comprised 15 stallions and the parade was run smoothly and efficiently, with commentators Matthew Prior and Gina Harding offering a wealth of knowledge to assist owners and breeders in making informed decisions on their 2015 covering plans.

Excitement is always stirred by first-season sires: while all have proven their worth on the track, little can be known about their future at stud. However, at prices that allow room for budgets both great and small these are the horses that are commercially viable for most and offer breeders the chance to access potentially potent genetic attributes.

Albaasil, a son of the great Dansili, now standing at Longdon Stud, started the show.

Having won two races at three over a mile and been runner-up in a Group 2 at Meydan, he represents good value for money at £1,750.

He was followed by Burwaaz, a son of Exceed And Excel. Trained by Ed Dunlop, who testifies to his speed and brilliant turn of foot, he will be standing at Hedgeholme Stud in County Durham at a fee of £2,500.

Overbury Stud was well represented with three impressive young stallions. Cityscape is a striking son of Selkirk and a carbon copy of his sire. He boasts the highest Timeform rating of any of Selkirk’s progeny at 125. He set a new track record when winning the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Stakes and is available at £4,500.

Dunaden has been acclaimed by Sheikh

Group 1-winning sprinter Garswood is new to the roster at Cheveley Park Stud

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Fahad as his “horse of a lifetime” and this tough, tenacious performer proved his grit and determination by winning three Group 1s in Australia and Hong Kong. His fee is £3,000 and breeders using him in his first season can benefit from some lucrative premiums from the Dunaden Breeders’ Club initiative, as well as a £25,000 bonus for anyone to breed a first-crop two- or three-year-old stakes winner by him.

Mickley Stud’s Heeraat is by Dark Angel

Dick Turpin, who has his first runners this

Newsells Park’s proven sire Mount Nelson

Longdon Stud’s new recruit Albaasil

Burwaaz has joined Hedgeholme Stud

Less well known to European breeders is Kuroshio, a precocious Australian-bred son of Exceed And Excel who is the latest addition to the Overbury roster. He boasts a pedigree which includes the American influences of Gone West and Storm Cat and is standing for £3,500.

Cheveley Park Stud is keeping it in the family with new recruit Garswood, who will stand alongside his sire Dutch Art, grandsire Medicean and damsire Kyllachy for £7,000. This Group 1-winning sprinter is built for speed, with strong hindquarters and a good shoulder.

Bucklands Farm presented newcomer Coach House, whose promising racing career was cut short by injury but who was highly rated by trainer Aidan O’Brien. By Oasis Dream, and the first foal of impressive racemare Lesson In Humility, he won twice as a two-year-old, including the Listed EBF Marble Hill Stakes.

Heeraat was the most expensive son from the first crop of Dark Angel and is out of the Green Desert mare Thawrah, who is a half-sister to Group 1-winning sprinter Malhub. He joins Mickley Stud for a fee of £4,000.

Well-bred newcomer Sun Central stands at Elusive Bloodstock for £2,000, which seems a steal for this striking chesnut with the pedigree to match. He is a son of the great Galileo and a half-brother to champion two-year-old and Classic winner George Washington.

The National Stud was represented by Dick Turpin and Gregorian. The smart John Gosdentrained Gregorian was recommended by his trainer as being “fine-looking, tough and ultragenuine” and his six wins included the Group 3 Diomed Stake sat Epsom. The son of Clodovil

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Coach House is new to Bucklands Farm

Cityscape’s first foals are on the ground

season, takes his turn in the spotlight

Overbury’s Australian shuttler Kuroshio

Long-striding grey Gregorian is standing at the National Stud for the Burns family

Melbourne Cup hero Dunaden

Equiano’s eldest runners are now three

The well related Sun Central

Swiss Spirit is at Whitsbury Manor Stud

Norman Court Stud’s Sixties Icon

along with Swiss Spirit, was one of two stallions at the parade to have been bred at Lordship Stud. By Galileo out of the Oaks winner Love Divine, Sixties Icon was the champion threeyear-old stayer in Europe in 2006 and has sired stakes winners Chilworth Icon, Audacia and Cruck Realta. His fee for 2015 is £6,000.

Finally, Swiss Spirit was another addition to the successful team at Whitsbury Manor Stud last season. This high-class sprinter beat ten Group 1 winners in his racing days, including Lethal Force and Sole Power. He was well supported in his first season, covering 105 mares. His fee for this season is £4,500.

makes his stud debut at £4,500.

Dick Turpin’s first two-year-olds hit the track this season and he has just returned from a shuttle season at Mungrup Stud in Australia.

The champion older horse in Italy, he won nine races, including two Group 1s and three Group 2s, and stands for £4,000.

Newsells Park Stud’s Equiano is the highestrated son of Acclamation and stands at £8,000.

His first crop are now three-year-olds but he already has a Group winner to his name and, as a top sprinter who reached his peak at five, it’s fair to assume that the best is yet to come.

Equiano’s stud-mate Mount Nelson, an impressive son of Rock Of Gibraltar, is great value for money at £6,000 with a tally of ten Group winners and performers to date.

Classic winner Sixties Icon made the trip from Norman Court Stud in Wiltshire and, THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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TBA FORUM

TBA 2015 sponsored races get underway The TBA regional chairman for Scotland, Tim Finch, reported back from the TBA/EBF Mares Novice Chase at Kelso that took place on January 12. Despite the cold and wet conditions, the team at Kelso pulled out all the stops to ensure the meeting took place. Dominic Burke and Tony Meehan’s homebred, Tonvadosa, battled Silverton right to the post to win by a length and a quarter. Trained by Donald McCain, the daughter of Flemensfirth was winning for the fifth time in ten starts.

Our 2015 Point-to-Point sponsorship started with two mares’ races on January 25. One was hosted at Chipley Park and the other took place at Higham. Mrs J Humphrey and Ms C West’s wonderful chestnut mare Lucette Annie defended her title by winning at Chipley Park to claim her 11th point-to-point victory. The Rob, Roy, Henry, John Partnership were the thrilled owners of Popaway who won the Higham race impressively.

Please note, due to a cancellation, the scheduled TBA Mares’ Race at Whittington on March 22 will now take place at Tabley on April 26.

Popaway wins impressively at Higham

Lucette Annie winning the TBA Mares’ Race at Chipley Park

Tim Finch (left) presents the prize to Tonvadosa’s joint-owner Tony Meehan (centre), with Whitley Stud’s David Fitch-Peyton

Forthcoming events in 2015 We have been busy planning the year ahead so can now share with you some important dates for 2015. Details of each event will be circulated in due course but please find below the dates so that you can put these in your diary: July 7 – The TBA AGM, Newmarket July 7 – The TBA Annual Awards Evening, Newmarket July 15-16 – The TBA Annual Seminar, Newmarket and Newbury July 26 – The National Hunt Stars of Tomorrow Foal Show, Bangor November 13 – The National Hunt Stallion Parade, Cheltenham

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Make the most of the new website – ensure our records are up to date As you may have seen, the new TBA website was launched last month. The refreshed look and design is to ensure that the site is easy to use and helpful for members with a new members’ log-in section. This area provides access to exclusive information, documents, guidelines and templates and other helpful services. To gain admission to this area you will have received an email providing you with new log-in details, if you haven’t received this yet please contact Carrie.Cherry@thetba.co.uk to ensure we have your correct and most up to date email address on our records.

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w w w. t h e t b a . c o . u k

TBA diary dates SUNDAY, MARCH 8

EBF/TBA Mares’ Novices’ Chase Series • At Warwick

An update from DEFRA on CAP payments 2015

SATURDAY, MARCH 14

TBA Mares-only race at New Forest Point-to-Point • At Larkhill

THURSDAY, MARCH 19

EBF/TBA Mares’ Novices’ Chase Series • At Ludlow

SATURDAY, MARCH 21

EBF/TBA NH Novices Hurdle Finale (Listed) • At Newbury

SUNDAY, MARCH 22

TBA Mares-only race at Oakley point-to-point At Bradfield-on-the-Green

TBA NEW MEMBERS

Anthony G Antoniades, West Sussex; David Aykroyd, Yorkshire; Mrs Sarah L Edwards, Shropshire; Gary Hadden, Ireland Miss Bethan Jones, Herefordshire; North Park Farm Racing, Gloucestershire; Mrs Janet D Thompson, Gloucestershire;

18-35 MEMBERS

Josephine Armaly, Oxfordshire; Edward J Arthur, County Durham; Alexander Brown, Gloucestershire; Sam Gibson, Norfolk; Hannah Varnes, Essex

Free Entry The TBA/EBF Mares’ Only NH Novices’ Hurdle Final is a valuable and important limited handicap for mares and as such, forms the centrepiece of the final Saturday of the Jump season. As an acknowledgment of the TBA’s ongoing support, Newbury racecourse is allowing TBA members free entry on March 21.

Members will be required to show their TBA membership card at the owners and trainers’ desk where they will then receive their free badge. Please note, one badge will be provided per member. We hope you enjoy the day.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Small breeders could be affected by minimum limit of 36 hectares being applied to farms

DEFRA has recently announced that as part of the initiatives to streamline eligibility for the Basic Payments Scheme in 2015 under the Active Farmer rule, a minimum limit of 36 hectares has been applied to farms. This may affect those small breeders operating on less than 36 hectares and who were previously eligible to receive Single Farm Payments under the old Scheme. We asked for further guidance from DEFRA, which issued the following response: “Thirty-six hectares is the median average size of a commercial farm in England.

However, all farmers in England who do not operate waterworks, railway services, airports, real estate services, or permanent sport and recreational grounds are considered active farmers in any case.

Farmers who do operate waterworks, railway services, airports, real estate services, or permanent sport and recreational grounds will be ineligible for direct payments unless they meet the readmission criteria (or received €5,000 or less in direct payments in the previous year).

Following discussion with the Commission, we will apply the following for the three tests for the readmission criteria:

(a) A business will be readmitted if it provides verifiable evidence that its annual amount of direct payments is at least 5% of the total receipts that it obtained from nonagricultural activities. (b) We will consider that the agricultural activities of a farm with an eligible area of at least 36 hectares are not insignificant.

This means that farms this size or larger will be readmitted. (c) We will consider that when agricultural receipts (as defined for the first test) are at least 40% of total receipts the applicant will be considered to have a principal business of exercising an agricultural activity. This means such farms will be readmitted. There will be no test relating to the “company objects” in the founding documents of the business or charity.

Members who consider that they are eligible to apply under the readmission criteria detailed above are advised to contact the CAP Direct Payments Policy Team at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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TBA FORUM

RoR/TBA Retrained Racehorse Challenge for 2015 Following a successful series of competitions held in 2014, the final of the RoR/TBA Retrained Racehorse Challenge will, once again, be held at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Friday, May 15. Over 30 qualifiers were held and the first three in each of these events are eligible to enter the final. The final is a great spectacle and if any members are attending the Royal Windsor Horse Show please do find some time to watch.

The first event where competitors can qualify for next year’s final is on April 16 at the North Of England Spring Show in Lancashire.

A full list of dates will be published on the TBA website and will feature in the Diary Dates section of Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder magazine.

Louise Kemble presents the prize to last year’s RoR/TBA Retrained Challenge Winner Desitaire

Breeders’ Prizes National Hunt HBLB Breeders’ Prizes worth £1,000 or more Breeder

Prize (£)

Horse

Sire

Dam

Based on date money was paid

Date

Course

01/01/2015

Cheltenham,

Stewart Pike

6,000

Splash Of Ginge

Oscar

Land Of Honour

RF And SD Knipe

2,500

Wishfull Dreaming

Alflora

Poussetiere Deux

01/01/2015

Cheltenham

Elms Stud Co Ltd

1,000

Thomas Brown

Sir Harry Lewis

Tentsmuir

01/01/2015

Cheltenham

JAG and Mrs SRB Meaden

1,250

Somchine

Volochine

Seem Of Gold

03/01/2015

Wincanton

Catridge Farm Stud

1,500

Grumeti

Sakhee

Tetravella

04/01/2015

Plumpton

Richard Bridges

4,000

Highland Retreat

Exit To Nowhere

St Kilda

09/01/2015

Doncaster

Mrs PG Lewin

3,000

Tea For Two

Kayf Tara

One For Me

10/01/2015

Kempton Park

Mrs JL Egan

6,000

Hawkes Point

Kayf Tara

Mandys Native

10/01/2015

Warwick

WB Mactaggart

5,000

Three Musketeers

Flemensfirth

Friendly Craic

10/01/2015

Warwick

Robert H. Goldie

2,500

Firth Of The Clyde

Flemensfirth

Miss Nel

10/01/2015

Wetherby

Whitley Stud

1,250

Tonvadosa

Flemensfirth

Sleepless Eye

11/01/2015

Kelso

Mrs Patricia Ellen Holtorp

1,500

Midnight Belle

Midnight Legend

Cherry Alley

15/01/2015

Ludlow

RJ & SA Carter

6,000

Bitofapuzzle

Tamure

Gaelic Gold

17/01/2015

Ascot

D & N Leggate, R Kent & I Henderson

1,000

Out Sam

Multiplex

Tintera

17/01/2015

Ascot

Cheveley Park Stud Ltd

8,000

Samstown

Kingsalsa

Red Peony

17/01/2015

Haydock Park

Helshaw Grange Stud Ltd

2,500

Mwaleshi

Oscar

Roxy River

17/01/2015

Haydock Park

SA Brookshaw

1,250

Whispering Harry

Sir Harry Lewis

Welsh Whisper

17/01/2015

Taunton

WB Mactaggart

2,500

Royal Regatta

King's Theatre

Friendly Craic

24/01/2015

Doncaster

Sir Christopher Stephen Wates

2,000

Generous Ransom

Generous

Penneyrose Bay

24/01/2015

Cheltenham

Lady HJ Clarke

1,250

Barton Heather

Midnight Legend

Home From The Hill 24/01/2015

Uttoxeter

Miss A Gibson Fleming

2,500

Tara Point

Kayf Tara

Poppet

30/12/2014

Taunton

See Breeders' Prizes table effective from January 1 on TBA website, www.thetba.co.uk. Prizes subject to confirmation of qualification with Weatherbys

94

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_TBA_Forum_Owner 20/02/2015 15:15 Page 95

w w w. t h e t b a . c o . u k

What is happening in your area this year • Regional Events 2015 The planning of the busy programme of regional days is well underway and details of each region’s event will be in next month’s issue as well as on the TBA website in due course. The aim of these unique days is to provide a sociable and enjoyable experience with members from your area visiting behind the scenes of some exclusive and wonderful venues.

These days prove incredibly popular and, in 2014, nearly 300 members enjoyed the experience. To see more about regional days please view the video on the home page of the TBA website.

Application forms for the regional day taking place in your area will be sent directly to you nearer to the time of the event. Places are limited on each so please book early to avoid disappointment.

If you would like assistance within your region, the Regional Representatives for 2015 are:

SCOTLAND Chairman of Region • Tim Finch, Roxburghshire • timtfinch@btinternet.com

THE NORTH Northern Ireland, Isle Of Man, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Durham, Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Yorkshire.

Chairman of Region • Andrew Spalding, County Durham Andrew@hedgeholmestud.co.uk

WALES & WEST MIDLANDS

Wales, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Cheshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Derbyshire.

Chairman Of Region • Hazel West, Warwickshire • 01789 459032

THE EAST

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Suffolk.

Chairman of Region • Andrew Mead, Suffolk • mead@castlebridge.eu

THE WEST

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire.

Chairman of Region • Penny van Straubenzee, Berkshire p.straubenzee@googlemail.com

SOUTH EAST

Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, London.

Chairman of Region • John Needham, Kent • john@elmhurstbloodstock.co.uk

SOUTH WEST

Avon, Channel Islands, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire.

Chairman of Region • Anthea Gibson Fleming, Dorset anthea@antheagf.demon.co.uk

FRANKLINS GARDENS b. 2000, 16.11⁄2 hh Halling – Woodbeck (Terimon)

DISCOVER THE WORLD OF RACING WITH THE RACING TOURS SPECIALIST Our 2015/16 programme features a variety of destinations from Racing Classics and Racing Festivals to Racing Holidays around the world.

2015 Jersey with an evening race meeting at Les Landes Budapest for the Magyar Hungarian Derby Berlin for the Grosser Preis von Berlin The Deauville Festival and Yearling Sales Baden-Baden for the Grosser Preis von Baden THE PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE – Enjoy English commentary in Horse Racing Abroad’s Pavilion Grandstand at Longchamp Prague for The Velka Pardubicka Steeplechase THE BREEDERS’ CUP at Keeneland THE MELBOURNE CUP – the race that stops the nation 2016 Cape Town for the J & B Met THE DUBAI WORLD CUP – the world’s richest horse race For your FREE copy of our Racing Tours brochure please telephone: 01244 355 498 or visit our website: www.horseracingabroad.com

From a Group producing mare • By a Top class stallion High class Group 2 & 3 Winner of 4 races, £201,376 including Gr2 Yorkshire Cup. A striking horse with an outstanding pedigree.

His progeny are correct, good movers and have wonderful temperaments.

Excellent fertility. Retired sound.

Youngstock in training with Jeremy Scott and David Elsworth.

Making a mark with PT to PT horses GARDEN WHISPER etc and NH Flat races with FLASHYFRANK etc.

Stud Fee: £1,250 (1st October Terms)

BABODANA ch. 2000, 16.1 hh

Bahamian Bounty – Daanat Nawal (Machiavellian) Tough and durable high-class miler Won 3 races (including the Lincoln Handicap in 2004) Winnings £222,083. Retired sound.

An impressive individual combining bone and quality with an exceptional temperament, suitable sire for any equestrian sphere.

Concession for NONTB Mare.

Stud Fee: £1,000 (1st October Terms)

Enquiries to: – Derrick Scott

EAST LYNCH STUD, Minehead, Somerset, TA24 8SS Tel/Fax: 01643 702430 • info@eastlynchstud.co.uk

www.eastlynchstud.co.uk

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

95

Mar_127_TBA-BreederOfTheMonth_Owner 20/02/2015 15:02 Page 96

BREEDER OF THE MONTH

www.thetba.c o.uk

Words Alan Yuill Walker Sponsored by

Manufacturers of

BREEDER OF THE MONTH – January 2015

Bob and Shirley Carter

GEORGE SELWYN

After a searching confrontation on softened ground, the British-bred seven-year-olds Bitofapuzzle and Carole’s Spirit finished first and second in the Grade 2 Warfield Mares’ Hurdle at Ascot, as the betting suggested they would.

Between them Bitofapuzzle and Carole’s Spirit – whose dam Carole’s Crusader was the TBA’s NH Broodmare of the Year for 2010/11 – had scored nine times, the former having been defeated only once in five starts under rules, three of her victories coming in mares’ bumpers, two of them Listed.

Trained by Harry Fry, Bitofapuzzle was owned previously by Richard Barber, for whom she was an easy winner of a maiden point-to-point at Larkhill in February 2013 when an odds-on favourite.

Bitofapuzzle’s sire Tamure and dam Gaelic Gold are indelibly linked.

Bitofapuzzle was conceived at Sandley Stud in Dorset – then a satellite of Scarvagh House Stud in Northern Ireland – before joining her at Beech Tree Stud, via an interim period in Cheshire, just across the county boundary into Somerset, where the stallion is now pensioned off.

It is at Beech Tree that Bitofapuzzle’s breeders Bob and Shirley Carter board their four broodmares under manager Allan Munnis. “We have known him for 15 years and leave everything to him, he’s the expert,” said Shirley Carter.

And it was Munnis, who used to occupy the same role at Sandley, from whom they procured Gaelic Gold.

The Carters live at The Greaves, a farm on the Welsh border near Malpas in Cheshire, where daughter Emily Gilruth oversees a hunting and eventing yard at which there are currently around 30 residents.

Shirley Carter is secretary to the local Wynnstay branch of the Pony Club and she and her husband run a software and mailing company based locally in Farndon.

“We have been involved with thoroughbreds for about 12 years, really through my children’s interest in ponies and horses,” explained Shirley Carter. “My daughter used to ride an eventer for Allan’s wife Judy. My son Matthew Hancock is the MP for West Suffolk and we all had great fun watching him win a charity race at Newmarket a couple of years ago.”

The second foal that unraced Gaelic Gold produced for the Carters was Golden Gael. By the Sandley resident Generous, she was sold as a

Bitofapuzzle (right) and Carole’s Spirit battle it out at Ascot

three-year-old at Doncaster in May 2009 for only £2,000 to join Jeremy Scott and is the winner of a Listed novice hurdle. She was consigned from Goldford Stud, sponsors of Bitofapuzzle’s debut victory under rules in a mares’ bumper at Bangor.

Bitofapuzzle’s first four dams are all by noted Irish-based National Hunt sires, Good Thyne, Supreme Leader, Vulgan and Mustang respectively, and Gaelic Gold shares her grandam with two smart chasers who made their mark at Aintree in Bells Life (John Hughes Trophy) and Indian Tonic (Becher Chase).

Since producing Bitofapuzzle, Gaelic Gold has never left Beech Tree Stud. In 2011 and 2012 she had a colt and a filly by Apple Tree. The former was sold as a foal at Doncaster and the latter will probably go to the Doncaster sales in May. Her two-year-old filly by Geordieland, to whom she is currently in foal, was sold privately for £9,250 at Doncaster in January 2014.

Two of the Carters’ mares have yearlings by Geordieland: Lady Blade with a colt and Pems Gift with a filly. The remaining mare, Night Symphonie, who is a half-sister to Sprinter Sacre’s sire Network, is the dam of four winners including Showtime Blues (by Showcasing), a 20,000gns foal. Night Symphonie currently has a yearling colt by, and is due to, Archipenko, before visiting So You Think at Coolmore.

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96

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Mar_127_NGC_Owner 20/02/2015 15:28 Page 97

N E X T G E N E R AT I O N C L U B

www.nextgenerationc lub.c om

By Katherine Fidler

Experiencing the stud season on the opposite side of the world From Bloomsbury Stud to Arrowfield via Weatherbys for intrepid traveller Patrick Diamond

B

y the time you read this the covering season will be under way and there will be foals aplenty on the ground – with many more to come.

However, one of the joys of the global bloodstock industry is that once the northern hemisphere breeding season wraps up, it begins all over again in the southern hemisphere, offering those in the sector an opportunity to travel worldwide doing the job they love.

Patrick Diamond, 23, completed his first season in Australia last year but has plans for yet more travel.

“I had always been keen to gain a global perspective of the industry and after graduating from the Irish National Stud Course, Australia seemed the logical step,” says Diamond. “Thanks to the network of previous Irish National Stud graduates, including Paul Messara and Dave Morrissey, a position arose in the breeding shed of Australia’s prestigious Arrowfield Stud.

“I began working in the breeding shed alongside Arrowfield’s illustrious stallion roster, including champion sire Redoute’s Choice and Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom, to name just two.

“Now the season is over I’m heavily involved in the weaning process and with the yearling preparation for upcoming sales.

“However, I feel it’s vitally important to have as well-rounded a view of the industry as possible, and having spent most of my life on the breeding side I plan to gain further experience within a racing yard. On top of that I would like to further my global outlook, and I’m keen to see how America and Japan differ from what I have seen so far. I’d like to gain some more exposure in nominations and syndicate management with a view to my future aspirations.”

Diamond has indeed spent most of his life in bloodstock, having spent his formative years at one of Britain’s most renowned nurseries.

“I was highly privileged to grow up at the beautiful Bloomsbury Stud, where my father was stud groom,” he says. “It was fantastic to be part of the foundation mare Mrs Moss’s dynasty – following the families on and off the track sparked my real passion for racing and a deep love of pedigrees. Being immersed in this world from such a young age was incredible.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Patrick Diamond at work at Arrowfield Stud

The horses felt like part of the family and regardless of whether they were running at Royal Ascot or Redcar, it was always a big deal.”

“Following the

Bloomsbury families on and off the track sparked my real passion for racing” But while Diamond grew up literally surrounded by horses – his earliest racing memory is Danceabout winning the 2000 Sun Chariot Stakes – not doing so need not be a barrier to a career in racing or bloodstock. Like a number in the industry, his first job was at the offices of racing administrator Weatherbys.

“Having completed my A-Levels and undecided on which university course to take, I luckily fell into a work experience job at

Weatherbys,” he says. “I started out helping compile the Stallion Book, gathering information and pictures to fill the pages.

“It was very exciting to be so young and at the forefront of breaking news as to who was being retired and where they would be standing. Fortunately for me, this progressed into a full-time position, spending three amazing years within the company and learning vast amounts about the inner workings of the horseracing industry.”

Weatherbys provided a firm grounding, but after much more travel and broadening his horizons, Diamond hopes one day to become a bloodstock agent. But for now, a few more months in Australia is on the cards.

“Working alongside some of Australia’s best horses and watching their progeny succeed in the sales ring at Magic Millions and on the track has been a huge privilege,” says Diamond. “On a personal note, seeing Adelaide and Ryan Moore come all the way down here and win the Cox Plate in the manner they did was a huge highlight.”

He adds: “Our draft for the Easter Sale is very exciting, and with the Autumn Carnival not too far away, I imagine there will be plenty more highlights to come.”

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VET FORUM: THE EXPERT VIEW

By DEIDRE CARSON BVSc, MRCVS

Need for vigilance against spread of disease during breeding season As the numbers on studs increase at this time of year, so does the risk of infection

A

t this time of year the population of horses on studs increases significantly in number and there is an associated increase in the risk of infection from horse to horse or through contamination of the environment or equipment. Whatever the route of infection, the higher the number of horses per acre, the higher the risk of infection. It is not always possible to prevent the occurrence or spread of disease but vaccination can be an effective tool against some infections. However, it cannot replace good management, biosecurity and hygiene.

This article will provide basic guidelines for the use of those vaccines (or in the case of Rhodococcus, hyper-immune plasma) which are readily available in the UK. For specific guidance relating to the administration of any vaccine or treatment, you should consult your own veterinary surgeon.

Equine Herpes viruses (EHV) 1 and 4 are widespread and common causes of respiratory infection in horses. They are spread by dispersal of infected droplets from the horse’s respiratory tract. However, EHV1 is also an important cause of abortion and the aborted fetus and associated fluids are an extremely concentrated source of virus, putting in-contacts at high risk of infection.

There are licenced vaccines available for EHV 1 and 4. These are commonly used in horses in training to reduce the impact of respiratory disease. They are also in widespread use on studs (administered at five, seven and nine months of pregnancy) to try to reduce the incidence of herpesvirus abortion. They do not prevent individual abortions, but correct vaccination does reduce risk of abortion storms (where several mares abort on one premises) by reducing the number of shed virus particles, both in respiratory excretions and in fetal fluids.

Rotavirus Rotavirus is a common cause of diarrhoea in young foals and it is potentially lifethreatening due to the severe fluid and electrolyte imbalances that can occur. At the very least, there may be significant costs

98

LIAM NORRIS

Herpes virus Vaccinating mares against certain diseases during pregnancy can help young foals

involved in treatment of affected foals. The condition is highly contagious and an ‘outbreak’ can be very difficult to contain once you have one affected foal. It is not possible to vaccinate foals against this condition but it is possible to vaccinate mares in the latter part of pregnancy, i.e. at eight, nine and ten months, in order to increase the level of antibodies against rotavirus that are concentrated in the colostrum. This will provide a greater degree of protection to the foal for the first few weeks of its life.

Tetanus Fortunately, tetanus is much less common than it used to be, but it does still occur and is one of the few diseases that can be prevented by vaccination. Mares should receive a complete primary course and then have a booster approximately four weeks before foaling to ensure they have high levels of antibody in their colostrum and to protect the mare in the event of any foaling injury.

Foals should be vaccinated at around six months of age.

Influenza Equine influenza is a highly infectious respiratory disease but is not often considered a major issue on studs, instead being seen as more of a problem in racing stables and livery yards. Outbreaks are still relatively common, particularly in unvaccinated individuals, but the disease is also seen in vaccinated horses. Influenza vaccination is aimed at reducing the risk of disease, particularly in youngsters, but even where disease is not prevented, symptoms are less severe and the risk of spread is lower due to a significant reduction in the number of virus particles shed and the duration and severity of illness. Mares should have a booster approximately one month before term to help to protect their foals. Foals should begin a course of vaccinations at five to six months of age, in accordance with manufacturers’ recommendations.

Rhodococcus Rhodococcus is a disease (caused by Rhodococcus equi) that affects young and THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_Vet_Forum_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:45 Page 99

growing foals, causing abscess formation, usually in the lungs. Dry, dusty conditions, barn housing and poorly ventilated stables seem to increase the risk of disease. The bacteria are present in the environment and either inhaled or ingested. Some foals appear to be able to clear the infection without becoming ill; others require prolonged antibiotic treatment and a percentage will die. Bacteria are excreted by infected animals and further contaminate the environment.

There is no vaccine available for this organism but some studs where the disease is endemic administer commercially-produced hyper-immune plasma. Protocols vary but one litre of plasma is usually administered soon after birth and a second at around 21 to 28 days of age.

Scientific evidence indicates that the level of antibodies administered this way drops off quickly and it is difficult to be certain that there is any significant reduction in the incidence of disease. Early detection and appropriate treatment are imperative and foals are often monitored by ultrasound examination of the chest to detect early abscess formation.

Lawsonia The bacteria Lawsonia intracellularis live quite happily in the environment and therefore the disease tends to become endemic on affected properties. The infection causes a proliferative enteropathy, where the lining of the intestine becomes very thickened and inflamed, with a loss of protein and malabsorption from the intestine. This causes depression, muscle and weight loss and dependent swellings with or without diarrhoea. The organism can be difficult to isolate and so presumptive diagnosis is based on clinical signs and low protein levels but

can often be confirmed by faecal PCR. There is a serological (blood) test but this only confirms exposure to the organism, not active disease.

There is no licenced vaccine for use in the horse in this country, however there is increasing use via the prescribing cascade of a porcine (pig) vaccine which is administered per rectum. The condition is most often seen in the autumn and winter, so vaccination of weanlings should be undertaken around October.

Equine Viral Arteritis This is a notifiable venereal disease, causing fever, depression and swellings, and which is transmitted at teasing or mating by an infected stallion or via the respiratory route.

“Vaccination against any disease does not remove or supersede the need for good management”

Infected mares may abort. In the UK it is recommended that stallions and teasers are vaccinated, but a blood test should be taken prior to the first vaccination to ensure that the horse has not been previously exposed.

This is particularly important if a horse may be exported at a later date. It is also important that the vaccinations are kept up to date and that six-monthly boosters are given after the initial primary course.

Mares in the UK are not vaccinated for EVA but under the HBLB Codes of Practice there is a requirement that mares are tested at the beginning of every breeding season to ensure that they are either EVA-negative or, if they are positive, that they have a stable or declining titre.

Strangles This disease is a highly contagious bacterial infection caused by Streptococcus equi. It is ubiquitous and can cause severe illness as well as significant disruption to breeding and other activities if it occurs on a stud.

There is a vaccine available for use in healthy animals at increased risk of infection, but it is not licenced for use in pregnant mares. You would need to discuss with your own vet the pros and cons of its use in your particular situation, should you be unfortunate enough to get strangles on your stud.

Before and beyond vaccination Vaccination against any disease does not remove or supersede the need for good management practices, hygiene and biosecurity. So isolating new arrivals, not mixing age groups of horses, recognising illness and separating ill animals from healthy animals promptly, trying to ensure that there is no transfer of infectious material on clothing or equipment etc, are all just fundamental steps to reduce the incidence of disease.

The HBLB Codes of Practice are an excellent source of information and advice on recognition, prevention and control of many of the infectious diseases that may pose a problem for owners of animals on studs. They are available online at http://codes.hblb.org.uk

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99

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01638 661321 thetba.co.uk info@thetba.co.uk THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Mar_127_DrStatz2_Owner Breeder 20/02/2015 14:15 Page 101

DR STAT JOHN BOYCE CRACKS THE CODE

Competition for best mares fierce among stallion owners Proven mares don’t always give a young sire a headstart as best years may be behind them

T

he mare market. It’s one of the two big markets in our industry, the other being yearlings, yet we tend to know very little about it. Every year we read that a given number of popular stallions cover ever-increasing numbers of mares, the headlines going to the sires that serve the most. And in recent years there is plenty of chat too about the size of the foal crop, how it has fallen sharply since 2009.

There is a wealth of information to be had from the Return of Mares each year. After all, from a stallion’s perspective it is the first information we have that allows us to begin forming an opinion on how a stallion will fare at stud. It also contains the real story about the size and shape of the mare market, which can run contrary to what the overall figures tell us.

And this last point is a good place to start.

Since 2007, the year I first started to dig into the Return of Mares, right up to 2014, there has been absolutely no recession in the numbers of quality mares in Britain and Ireland. The quality Dubawi covered the best book of mares in 2014 according to ratings

Top ten stallions ranked by their 2014 mares’ average Timeform rating (includes stallions with 20 or more mares) Stallion

Stud

Ctry

BF AvTFR

Mares' AvTFR

Dubawi

Dalham Hall

GB

£100,000

159

105.62

106.5

Frankel

Banstead Manor

GB

£125,000

132

112.38

106.4

Dansili

Banstead Manor

GB

£95,000

111

105.30

106.0

Galileo

Coolmore

IRE

Private

178

110.34

106.0

New Approach

Dalham Hall

GB

£80,000

121

104.77

104.9

Exceed And Excel

Dalham Hall

GB

£35,000

120

101.11

98.6

Oasis Dream

Banstead Manor

GB

£85,000

108

101.03

98.6

Intello*

Cheveley Park

GB

£25,000

136

102.83

98.0

Invincible Spirit

Irish National

IRE

€70,000

164

100.47

97.4

Shamardal

Kildangan

IRE

€50,000

164

96.70

95.3

*First-season sire

of the top 8,000 to 8,500 mares has been constant throughout that time. In fact, I have detected a small increase over the period. The recession that began in 2009 has been a bottomup one. And there is no surprise in that.

It is also true that the competition for the top 8,000 mares among stallion farms is intense.

After all, these are the mares that produce the next generation of top-priced yearling, leading broodmares and indeed stallion prospects. And it is probably fair to say that without a large topclass broodmare band and a sizeable marketing budget to support your own stallion roster – as is the case with the big operations – standing stallions is an even tougher proposition.

The reality for most stallion farms is to take whatever mare is offered. Only the very elite stallions will be over-subscribed. So it all boils down to product and pricing. After you decide what stallion to stand and what fee to charge, there is not a lot you can do to affect demand for nominations, unless you are prepared to discount or can market your stallion extensively.

Looking at our table, we can see examples of stallions that ultimately proved to be priced too high or too low, albeit purely from a racecourse potential viewpoint – many fees will be justified in the sales ring. The table is arranged by the average Timeform rating of the mares covered by each stallion. While not all mares have a

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Fee

Mares

BF denotes mares’ best foal

Timeform rating, most that visit UK and Irish stallions do. The ratings provide a great insight into book quality and broodmare potential.

Dubawi mares have an average Timeform rating of 106.5. No fewer that 63 of his mares were rated 110 or higher and include the likes of Dar Re Mi (124), Look Here (123), and Golden Lilac, Lailani, Ghanaati, Indian Ink and High Heeled all rated 122.

The leader when assessed by proven producers is Frankel with a very high 112.4 average rating for his mares’ progeny. This trend towards proven mares is also borne out by Frankel’s mares’ average age which stands at 10.2 compared to Dubawi’s 8.8. It’s an interesting tactic to rely on a group of older mares as they tend not to be as good as they were in their younger days.

A good case in point is Sea The Stars. His first crop was produced from predominately older proven mares. He’s sired 28.6% runners rated 100 or higher by Timeform, yet the figure for his runners’ siblings is 42.1%. Now, no-one could ever say he’s anything other than a good sire, but it leaves you wondering what heights he might have scaled with younger mares.

Incidentally, his best two so far, Taghrooda and Sea The Moon, were in utero when their dams were six years old. That said, there are plenty of amazing exceptions to this rule of thumb.

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DATA BOOK STAKES RESULTS

National Hunt Grade 1s 129 SODEXO CLARENCE HOUSE CHASE G1 ASCOT. Jan 17. 5yo+. 17f.

e m

1. DODGING BULLETS (GB) 7 11-7 £70,338 b g by Dubawi - Nova Cyngi (Kris S) O-Martin Broughton & Friends B-L. Dettori TR-Paul Nicholls 2. Sprinter Sacre (FR) 9 11-7 £26,500 b/br g by Network - Fatima III (Bayolidaan) O-Mrs Caroline Mould B-Mr C. Masle TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Twinlight (FR) 8 11-7 £13,263 b g by Muhtathir - Fairlight (Big Shuffle) O-M. L. Bloodstock Ltd B-M. L. Bloodstock Limited TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 3, 5. Time 4:08.70. Going Soft.

Age 3-7

Starts 26

Wins 9

Places 11

Earned £303,032

Sire: DUBAWI. Sire of 89 Stakes winners. NH in 2014/15 - DODGING BULLETS Kris S G1, PURPLE BAY Nashwan G2, LACHLAN BRIDGE Anabaa G3.

1st Dam: Nova Cyngi by Kris S. unraced.

Dam of 5 winners: 2004: SEIUN RHODEM (c Singspiel) 2 wins at 3 and 5 in Japan.

2005: YEM KINN (c Dubai Destination) Winner at 2.

2006: SINGITNSIGNIT (f Singspiel) Winner at 5 in USA. Broodmare.

2007: Fourlanends (g Dubawi) ran a few times.

2008: DODGING BULLETS (g Dubawi) Sold 8,000gns yearling at TADEY. 9 wins, Opus Energy Sharp Novices’ Hurdle G2, 2nd williamhill.com Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle G2, 3rd williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle G1, 888sport Tingle Creek Chase G1, Sodexo Clarence House Chase G1, Race Post Arkle Trial November Nov.Chase G2, williamhill.com Wayward Lad Nov. Chase G2, 2nd Betfair Game Spirit Chase G2, 3rd Shloer Chase LR. 2010: FRASERBURGH (g Shamardal) 2 wins at 3.

2011: Smart Panther (g Kheleyf) 2012: Good Omen (c Gloria de Campeao) 2nd Dam: NORTHERN TRICK by Northern Dancer.

Champion 3yr old filly in Europe in 1984. 4 wins at 3 in France Prix de Diane Hermes G1, Prix Vermeille G1, 2nd Trusthouse Forte P. de l’Arc de Triomphe G1, Prix Saint-Alary G1. Dam of ONDA NOVA (f Keos: Prix Imprudence LR), Evocatrice (f Persepolis: 2nd Prix de Meudon LR). Grandam of JEUNE-TURC, LIGHT SHIFT, SHIVA, NONNO LUIGI, LIMNOS, BURNING SUNSET, Hyades, Talwin, Edouna, Erewhon, Our Teddy, LETHAL WEAPON. Third dam of SMOKING SUN, MAGADAN, ZHIYI, Ikat, King of Dudes. Fourth dam of MAIN SEQUENCE. Broodmare Sire: KRIS S. Sire of the dams of 82 Stakes winners. NH in 2014/15 - DODGING BULLETS Dubawi G1, MAHRAJAAN Machiavellian G3.

DODGING BULLETS b g 2008 Dubai Millennium DUBAWI b 02 Zomaradah

Kris S NOVA CYNGI b/br 99 Northern Trick

Seeking The Gold Mr Prospector Con Game Colorado Dancer Shareef Dancer Fall Aspen Shirley Heights Deploy Slightly Dangerous Dancing Brave Jawaher High Tern Hail To Reason Roberto Bramalea Princequillo Sharp Queen Bridgework Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Prince John Trick Chick Fast Line

See race 80 in the February issue 130 BHP INSURANCES CHAMPION HURDLE G1 LEOPARDSTOWN. Jan 25. 4yo+. 16f.

1. HURRICANE FLY (IRE) 11 11-10 £51,163 b g by Montjeu - Scandisk (Kenmare) O-George Creighton & Mrs Rose Boyd B-Agricola Del Parco SS TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Arctic Fire (GER) 6 11-10 £16,202 b g by Soldier Hollow - Adelma (Sternkoenig) O-Wicklow Bloodstock Limited B-Mr U. Gruning

102

TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Jezki (IRE) 7 11-10 £7,674 b g by Milan - La Noire (Phardante) O-Mr John P. McManus B-G. M. McGrath TR-Mrs J. Harrington Margins 3.5, 4. Time 3:57.20. Going Yielding.

Age 2-11

Starts 39

Wins 26

Places Earned 9 £1,812,124

Sire: MONTJEU. Sire of 131 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: SCANDISK by Kenmare. Winner at 2 in Italy.

Dam of 4 winners: 2000: Hunzy (f Desert King) 2 wins at 2 and 3 in Italy, 3rd Criterium Labronico LR. Broodmare.

2001: Heir To The Throne (c Desert Prince) 2002: THUNDERWING (g Indian Danehill) 3 wins at 2.

2004: HURRICANE FLY (g Montjeu) Sold 43,903gns yearling at GOOY1. 26 wins, Prix Omnium II LR, Stan James Champion Chall.Trophy Hurdle G1 (twice), BHP Insurances Champion Hurdle G1 (5 times), Dobbins & Madigans Morgiana Hurdle G1 (3 times), paddypower.com December Festival Hurdle G1 (4 times), Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle G1, Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle G1, Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle G1, paddypower.com Future Chpn. Nov. Hurdle G1, Rabobank Champion Hurdle G1 (4 times), 2nd Racing Post Champion Hurdle G1, 3rd Stan James Champion Chall.Trophy Hurdle G1, Dobbins & Madigans Morgiana Hurdle G1, Gras Savoye Longchamp Hurdle G3, 2nd Prix Alain du Breil d’Ete 4yo Hurdle G1.

2005: DISKUSSION (g King’s Best) 6 wins at 2 to 5 in Italy.

2006: Sosua (f Exceed And Excel). Broodmare.

2008: Mucho Macabi (f Exceed And Excel).

Broodmare.

2010: Sizing Hurricane (g Shirocco) unraced.

2011: Avichi (f Yeats) unraced.

2012: Blixt (f Yeats) unraced to date.

2013: (g Yeats) 2014: (f Yeats) 2nd Dam: YANKEE LADY by Lord Gayle. 1 win at 3.

Own sister to LADY SINGER and YANKEE GOLD. Grandam of SEA GAZER, PORTMAN SQUARE, Azillion, Soldiers Bay, Difesa Indiana, Kunucu, Grappolo, Langtonian, Dan Breen. Third dam of DERVISCIO, LAGUNA SALADA, Bazroy, Ladiesandgentlemen, Defaillance.

Broodmare Sire: KENMARE. Sire of the dams of 83 Stakes winners.

HURRICANE FLY b g 2004 Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge MONTJEU b 96 Top Ville Floripedes Toute Cy Kalamoun Kenmare Belle of Ireland SCANDISK b 95 Lord Gayle Yankee Lady Ceol An Oir

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special High Top Sega Ville Tennyson Adele Toumignon Zeddaan Khairunissa Milesian Belle of The Ball Sir Gaylord Sticky Case Vimy Pal An Oir

See race 42 in the January issue 131 FRANK WARD ARKLE CHALLENGE CUP NOV.CHASE G1 LEOPARDSTOWN. Jan 25. 5yo+. 17f.

1. UN DE SCEAUX (FR) 7 11-12 £37,209 b g by Denham Red - Hotesse de Sceaux (April Night) O-E. O’Connell B-Haras de La Rousseliere & Mme Monique Choveau TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Clarcam (FR) 5 11-2 £11,783 b g by Califet - Rose Beryl (Lost World) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-J. Michel & D. Le Breton TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Gilgamboa (IRE) 7 11-12 £5,581 b g by Westerner - Hi Native (Be My Native) O-Mr John P. McManus B-K. McManus TR-Enda Bolger

Margins 15, 0.5. Time 4:11.80. Going Yielding to Soft.

Age 4-7

Starts 12

Wins 11

Places 0

Earned £225,985

Sire: DENHAM RED. Sire of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2014/15 - UN DE SCEAUX April Night G1, TEAM RED Saint Cyrien LR. 1st Dam: Hotesse de Sceaux by April Night. unraced.

Dam of 1 winner: 2006: Star de Sceaux (f Maresca Sorrento) ran on the flat in France and over jumps in France.

2008: UN DE SCEAUX (g Denham Red) 11 wins, Red Mills Trial Hurdle G2, Frank Ward Arkle Challenge Cup Nov.Chase G1, Prix Leon Rambaud Hurdle G2, Prix Hypothese Hurdle G3.

Broodmare Sire: APRIL NIGHT. Sire of the dams of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2014/15 - BRISTOL DE MAI Saddler Maker G1, UN DE SCEAUX Denham Red G1.

UN DE SCEAUX b g 2008 Pampapaul Pampabird Wood Grouse DENHAM RED b 92 Giboulee Nativelee Native Berry Kaldoun April Night My Destiny HOTESSE DE SCEAUX ch 95 Diarifos Olympe Occitane Papakiteme

Yellow God Pampalina Celtic Ash French Bird Northern Dancer Victory Chant Ribero Noble Native Caro Katana Chaparral Carmelite Dionysos II Diana Klairon Gorda

Un de Sceaux’s victory here provided yet another reminder that French jumping breeders have often made good use of stallions who would never have been given a chance in Britain or Ireland. His sire Denham Red had raced 15 times on the Flat by the time he made a winning debut over hurdles at Auteuil in the May of his three-year-old season. His record in those 15 starts stood at five seconds and three thirds but no victories.

Fortunately for this son of the very smart miler Pampabird, the addition of obstacles made a big difference.

Denham Red’s record at three stood at three wins and two seconds from five starts, one of his seconds being against Villez in the Grande Course de Haies des 3 Ans. Villez continued to be Denham Red’s nemesis the following year, when the Pampabird colt finished second in four of his five starts, his final effort being a close defeat by Villez in the Prix Alain de Breil.

Denham Red wasn’t extensively used, with fewer than 200 foals in his first 14 crops of racing age. He also sired Oculi, a dual Gr1 winner over fences as a four-year-old, but Un de Sceaux has strong claims to being his best effort. Except for a fall when heading for victory on his chasing debut, he would still be unbeaten.

Un de Sceaux follows the smart chaser Trifolium and the juvenile hurdler Bristol de Mai as the third British or Irish Gr1 winner out of a mare by April Night, a versatile performer who scored at up to 15 furlongs in winning 18 times. Un de Sceaux’s dam Hotesse de Sceaux never finished closer than sixth in eight starts and the next dam was an Anglo-Arab.

132 BETFRED SCILLY ISLES NOVICES’ CHASE G1 SANDOWN PARK. Jan 31. 5yo+. 20f 110yds.

1. GITANE DU BERLAIS (FR) 5 10-7 £26,829 b m by Balko - Boheme du Berlais (Simon du Desert) O-Mr Simon Munir/Mr Isaac Souede B-J. M. Lucas, L. Collet & C. Collet TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Irish Saint (FR) 6 11-4 £10,818 b/br g by Saint des Saints - Minirose (Mansonnien) O-Mrs Johnny de la Hey B-S. C. E. A. Haras Du Ma TR-Paul Nicholls 3. Grumeti (GB) 7 11-4 £6,017 b g by Sakhee - Tetravella (Groom Dancer) O-McNeill Family B-Catridge Farm Stud Ltd TR-Alan King Margins 8, 61. Time 5:22.40. Going Good to Soft.

Age 3-5

Starts 11

Wins 5

Places 4

Earned £120,773

Sire: BALKO. Sire of 3 Stakes winners.

Broodmare Sire: SIMON DU DESERT. Sire of the dams of 4 Stakes winners.

The Balko/Simon du Desert cross has produced: GITANE DU BERLAIS G1, WALK SIBO G3.

GITANE DU BERLAIS b m 2010 High Top Sega Ville Armos Pampa Bella Kendie BALKO b 01 Mill Reef Royal Charter Royal Way Ella Royale Rex Magna La Main Heureuse Calinta Caro Kaldoun Katana Simon du Desert Iron Duke Canaletto Charming Doll BOHEME DU BERLAIS gr 02 Green Dancer Cadoudal Come To Sea Cindy Cad Frere Basile Courtoisie Ad Victoria Top Ville

Pistolet Bleu

As a newly-turned five-year-old mare, Gitane du Berlais was in receipt of 11lb from her older male rivals here, but no-one could begrudge her a decisive victory on only her second start over fences. As she has won both starts over fences, she looks set to eclipse her hurdling efforts, even though they included a Listed win at Aintree and Gr3 score at Fairyhouse.

In the February 2014 issue, after Gitane du Berlais’ Listed win, I advised making a note of Balko.

Although his eldest progeny were only six at that stage, he had already been represented by very useful chasers Michto and Fago. There was also reason to think they could just be the tip of the iceberg, as Balko has some sizeable crops in the pipeline, with around 70 foals in his 2012 crop and even more the following year.

A son of Pistolet Bleu, Balko raced exclusively over jumps, winning nine of his 19 starts. His six successes over hurdles included a G2 at Auteuil and he also won two key chases there, including the Gr2 Prix Congress.

The best Gitane du Berlais’s dam could manage in ten races was a third place over hurdles at Auteuil. But her first three foals are winners and her 2011 Poliglote colt Tzigane du Berlais is worth watching. Second dam Cindy Cad managed only one win from 32 starts, over hurdles at Auteuil. But she was by supersire Cadoudal, which made her a sister to good French jumpers Tenerific and Falcon Crest.

Cindy Cad’s best progeny was very useful chaser Baraka du Berlais.

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Mar_127_DataBook_Layout 1 20/02/2015 16:18 Page 103

Caulfield on Gitane du Berlais: “She was in receipt of 11lb from her older male rivals, but no-one could begrudge her a decisive victory on only her second start over fences”

National Hunt Graded Races Date 10/01 10/01 10/01 11/01 15/01 15/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 17/01 18/01 18/01 18/01 22/01 22/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 24/01 25/01 31/01 31/01 31/01 01/02 01/02

Grade G2 G2 G3 GrA G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G3 G2 GrA GrB G2 GrA G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3 G3 G2 GrC

Race (course) sportinglife.com Moscow Flyer Nov.Hurdle (Punchestown) Neptune Investment Leamington Nov.Hurdle (Warwick) Betfred Classic Handicap Chase (Warwick) Underwriting Exchange Dan Moore Hp Chase (Fairyhouse) Coolmore Anaglog’sDaughter EBF Nov Chase (Thurles) Ladbrokes Ireland Kinloch Brae Chase (Thurles) Keltbray Holloway’s Handicap Hurdle (Ascot) OLBG.com Warfield Mares’ Hurdle (Ascot) C E Facilities Altcar Novices’ Chase (Haydock Park) Peter Marsh Handicap Chase (Haydock Park) Supreme Trial Rossington Main Nov. Hurde (Haydock Park) stanjames.com Champion Trial Hurdle (Haydock Park) Woodlands Park 100 Club Naas Nov. Chase (Naas) Limestone Lad Hurdle (Naas) Leopardstown Killiney Novice Chase (Leopardstown) Boylesports Leopardstown Handicap Chase (Leopardstown) Boylesports Handicap Hurdle (Leopardstown) John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle (Gowran Park) Goffs Thyestes Handicap Chase (Gowran Park) Betbright Cup Cotswold Chase (Cheltenham) JCB Triumph Trial Finesse Juv. Hurdle (Cheltenham) Neptune Investment Classic Nov. Hurdle (Cheltenham) galliardshomes.com Cleeve Hurdle (Cheltenham) Albert Bartlett River Don Novice Hurdle (Doncaster) grandnational.co.uk Lightning Nov.Chase (Doncaster) olbg.com Doncaster Mares’ Hurdle (Doncaster) freebets.com Murphy Group Handicap Chase (Cheltenham) Lacy Solicitors Golden Cygnet Nov.Hurdle (Leopardstown) Totepool Towton Novices’ Chase (Wetherby) Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Betfred Mobile Heroes Handicap Hurdle (Sandown Park) Boylesports Tied Cottage Chase (Punchestown) racinguk.com Gd. National Trial H Chase (Punchestown)

Dist 16f 21f 29f 17f 20f 20f 19.5f 24f 21f 25f 16f 16f 24f 19f 19f 21f 16f 24f 25f 25.5f 17f 20.5f 24f 24.5f 16.5f 16.5f 21f 20f 25f 18f 22f 16f 28f

Horse Douvan (FR) Three Musketeers (IRE) Hawkes Point (GB) Mallowney (IRE) Vroum Vroum Mag (FR) Don Cossack (GER) Baradari (IRE) Bitofapuzzle (GB) Wakanda (IRE) Samstown (GB) Aso (FR) The New One (IRE) Wounded Warrior (IRE) Kitten Rock (FR) Vautour (FR) Foxrock (IRE) Katie T (IRE) Dedigout (IRE) Djakadam (FR) Many Clouds (IRE) Peace And Co (FR) Ordo Ab Chao (IRE) Saphir du Rheu (FR) Caracci Apache (IRE) Three Kingdoms (IRE) Intense Tango (GB) Annacotty (IRE) Outlander (IRE) Ned Stark (IRE) Morning Run (IRE) Invicta Lake (IRE) Hidden Cyclone (IRE) Embracing Change (IRE)

Age 5 5 10 9 6 8 5 7 6 8 5 7 6 5 6 7 6 9 6 8 4 6 6 5 6 4 7 7 7 6 8 10 10

Sex G G G G M G G M G G G G G G G G M G G G G G G G G F G G G M G G G

Sire Walk In The Park Flemensfirth Kayf Tara Oscar Voix du Nord Sholokhov Manduro Tamure Westerner Kingsalsa Goldneyev King’s Theatre Shantou Laverock Robin des Champs Flemensfirth Beneficial Bob Back Saint des Saints Cloudings Falco Heron Island Al Namix High Chaparral Street Cry Mastercraftsman Beneficial Stowaway Wolfe Tone King’s Theatre Dr Massini Stowaway Anshan

Dam Star Face Friendly Craic Mandys Native Silkaway Naiade Mag Depeche Toi Behra Gaelic Gold Chanson Indienne Red Peony Odyssee du Cellier Thuringe Sparkling Sword The Cat Eater Gazelle de Mai Midnight Light Long Acre Dainty Daisy Rainbow Crest Bobbing Back Peace Lina Houldyurwhist Dona du Rheu Campanella Chan Tong Cover Look Mini Moo Min Western Whisper Last Moon Portryan Native Classic Material Hurricane Debbie Temple Heather

Broodmare Sire Saint des Saints Mister Lord Be My Native Buckskin Kadalko Konigsstuhl Grand Lodge Good Thyne Indian River Montjeu Dear Doctor Turgeon Broadsword Tagel Dom Pasquini Roselier Mark of Esteem Buckskin Baryshnikov Bob Back Linamix Supreme Leader Dom Pasquini Lomitas Hampstead Fort Wood Ardross Supreme Leader Montelimar Be My Native Classic Cliche Shahanndeh Faustus

Index 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165

Leading National Hunt sires 2014/15 by earnings Name

King's Theatre Presenting Beneficial Oscar Milan Flemensfirth Kayf Tara Westerner Old Vic Dom Alco Heron Island Definite Article Cloudings Shantou Danehill Dancer Gamut Dubawi Montjeu Generous Vinnie Roe Dr Massini Gold Well Brian Boru Winged Love Midnight Legend Alflora Voix du Nord Galileo Karinga Bay Anshan Stowaway Golan Alderbrook High Chaparral Authorized Overbury Kapgarde Fruits Of Love Blueprint Azamour Scorpion Craigsteel King's Best Network Poliglote Exit to Nowhere Revoque Hernando Rudimentary Germany Sir Harry Lewis Accordion Saint des Saints Turtle Island Kalanisi Jeremy Sholokhov Saddlers' Hall Court Cave Moscow Society Bach Martaline Dushyantor Indian Danehill Croco Rouge Califet Bob Back Doyen Panoramic Muhtathir Dylan Thomas Robin Des Champs

YOF

1991 1992 1990 1994 1998 1992 1994 1999 1986 1987 1993 1992 1994 1993 1993 1999 2002 1996 1988 1998 1993 2001 2000 1992 1991 1989 2001 1998 1987 1987 1994 1998 1989 1999 2004 1991 1999 1995 1995 2001 2002 1995 1997 1997 1992 1988 1994 1990 1988 1991 1984 1986 1998 1991 1996 2003 1999 1988 2001 1985 1997 1999 1993 1996 1995 1998 1981 2000 1987 1995 2003 1997

Sire

Sadler's Wells Mtoto Top Ville Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Alleged Sadler's Wells Danehill Sadler's Wells Dom Pasquini Shirley Heights Indian Ridge Sadler's Wells Alleged Danehill Spectrum Dubai Millennium Sadler's Wells Caerleon Definite Article Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells In the Wings Night Shift Niniski Valanour Sadler's Wells Ardross Persian Bold Slip Anchor Spectrum Ardross Sadler's Wells Montjeu Caerleon Garde Royale Hansel Generous Night Shift Montjeu Suave Dancer Kingmambo Monsun Sadler's Wells Irish River Fairy King Niniski Nureyev Trempolino Alleged Sadler's Wells Cadoudal Fairy King Doyoun Danehill Dancer Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Nijinsky Caerleon Linamix Sadler's Wells Danehill Rainbow Quest Freedom Cry Roberto Sadler's Wells Rainbow Quest Elmaamul Danehill Garde Royale

Rnrs

244 338 278 269 262 265 232 150 146 35 83 110 62 83 25 48 21 46 80 80 91 61 87 66 112 97 17 58 57 50 48 71 60 62 32 80 31 56 38 31 61 62 31 31 17 51 47 27 26 14 50 28 19 53 72 35 13 42 55 36 47 22 36 44 16 10 36 29 7 8 34 38

Wnrs

107 102 76 73 66 69 68 45 39 12 29 34 19 24 7 8 7 13 29 26 25 22 21 25 30 22 10 21 13 10 14 14 15 14 12 24 9 15 11 9 14 19 13 8 8 12 12 10 11 3 17 9 11 13 23 12 3 13 12 9 8 5 8 12 6 3 5 8 3 4 11 10

%WR

43.85 30.18 27.34 27.14 25.19 26.04 29.31 30.00 26.71 34.29 34.94 30.91 30.65 28.92 28.00 16.67 33.33 28.26 36.25 32.50 27.47 36.07 24.14 37.88 26.79 22.68 58.82 36.21 22.81 20.00 29.17 19.72 25.00 22.58 37.50 30.00 29.03 26.79 28.95 29.03 22.95 30.65 41.94 25.81 47.06 23.53 25.53 37.04 42.31 21.43 34.00 32.14 57.89 24.53 31.94 34.29 23.08 30.95 21.82 25.00 17.02 22.73 22.22 27.27 37.50 30.00 13.89 27.59 42.86 50.00 32.35 26.32

Races

176 146 108 101 95 90 87 62 46 14 43 50 23 38 12 14 10 24 37 36 32 30 32 32 41 30 18 26 20 15 17 18 18 17 20 27 14 17 21 12 23 30 27 14 12 17 17 14 14 5 22 13 15 16 29 13 6 17 17 15 14 6 12 16 9 6 5 12 4 6 15 12

AWD

19.5 19.8 19.4 20 20.7 20 19.2 19.8 21.6 21.3 20 19 21.2 20.4 16.8 20.1 17.7 18.6 20 19.6 20.5 19.7 20.9 20.8 19.3 20.4 18.5 18.5 20.5 23.2 18.9 19.3 20.1 18.4 17.3 20.6 19.5 19.3 20.6 18.3 19.8 20.7 18.8 21 18.8 19.2 21.1 20.7 19.8 17.5 20.3 21.2 20.8 20.7 18.3 16.5 19.3 21.9 20.4 22.2 20.1 18.2 21.9 20.4 19.6 18.3 22.3 17.4 16.6 20.5 18.2 17.8

Earnings (£)

1,885,619 1,180,657 1,128,391 1,054,496 865,520 859,916 810,027 672,139 578,693 442,257 356,192 348,310 345,281 321,274 315,771 312,984 310,742 310,534 300,364 298,579 293,806 280,458 271,619 268,877 268,711 262,871 261,873 244,126 240,420 230,104 228,017 205,237 182,152 172,580 171,598 168,471 166,736 164,426 164,116 163,303 161,869 157,454 154,530 152,399 151,444 150,383 149,821 148,904 148,779 148,627 146,810 146,409 141,961 140,567 137,737 135,841 134,494 130,016 128,102 125,736 124,536 124,044 118,922 117,323 115,379 114,461 113,693 111,365 109,991 108,827 105,908 104,836

Top horse

The New One Dunraven Storm Living Next Door Oscar Time Martello Tower Foxrock Lieutenant Colonel Caid du Berlais Vics Canvas Silviniaco Conti If in Doubt Cailin Annamh Many Clouds Wounded Warrior Bayan Road To Riches Dodging Bullets Hurricane Fly Henryville Hash Brown Sound Investment Johns Spirit Fox Appeal Lost Legend Sizing John Wishfull Thinking Vibrato Valtat Ballyglasheen Coneygree Your Busy Champagne Fever Shanpallas Notarfbad Hawk High Nichols Canyon Federici Garde La Victoire Simply Ned Aranhill Chief Dawalan Give Me A Break Steel Summit Seventh Sky Workbench Don Poli Exitas Ted Veale First Fandango Hey Big Spender Faugheen Whispering Harry The Romford Pele Djakadam Gorsky Island Barizan Stocktons Wing Don Cossack Master Of The Hall Court Minstrel Any Currency Baileys Concerto Dynaste Fever Pitch Shanahan's Turn Croco Bay Clarcam Boston Bob Pine Creek Houblon des Obeaux Twinlight Shield Vautour

Earned (£)

192,886 35,206 83,768 80,634 45,262 76,097 77,594 96,470 40,589 229,120 51,656 25,881 172,274 32,534 122,378 237,398 163,253 134,756 40,498 36,068 41,544 68,152 35,864 27,393 47,835 44,739 64,491 39,336 57,235 94,594 33,610 67,853 24,239 31,140 44,191 15,220 67,301 36,004 27,987 32,858 34,799 22,686 23,599 30,240 46,427 38,786 46,251 26,103 35,808 107,593 26,133 54,278 45,800 27,254 14,674 20,358 99,949 27,114 18,543 23,571 56,254 74,660 26,322 27,036 49,039 76,967 25,381 34,480 58,598 80,724 25,338 39,436

Everyone is playing catch up with King’s Just as in 2014, King’s Theatre is at the head of affairs, but with a much greater advantage. His lead over Presenting is a shade more than £700,000, whereas a year ago he had £260,000 in hand over Beneficial.

He has had a magnificent season, with 12 stakes winners from fewer runners than the next five in the list.

They are headed by G1 Tolworth Hurdle winner L’Ami Serge, also successful in a G2, plus old standby Menorah (G2), The New One (two G2s), Southfield Theatre (one G2) and Little King Robin (one G2 among seven victories). Novice hurdler Morning Run is six from six including twice in G3s.

Menorah apart, none of the horses mentioned are older than seven, so the immediate future looks rosy, especially as King’s Theatre’s final crop is only three; more than 50 of his penultimate crop went through the ring in 2014.

Presenting is up there as always but has had only four stakes winners.

In that category Beneficial is on nine and Oscar on seven, the same as top British-based sire Kayf Tara. Milan and Westerner are the youngest in the leading group. The former has had one stakes winner from 262 runners, Westerner five from 150.

For all the latest sire lists, go to www.ownerbreeder.co.uk.

Statistics to February 6

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

103

Mar_127_24Hours_Owner 20/02/2015 14:41 Page 104

24 HOURS WITH… SIMON CLAISSE

104

GEORGE SELWYN

I

’m up at 4.30 on racedays and during the run up to a meeting, otherwise it’s 6.30. First job is to feed the chickens, ducks, two hunters, two ponies and then walk Ella, Booty and Bunny, our three lurchers.

I take a cup of tea to Annabel, my other half, who gets Leo and Elliott ready for school. I’ll shave, leap in the shower, grab a banana and maybe some other fruit for a very quick breakfast before driving the boys on the 25minute journey to school in Cheltenham, though obviously not on my very early mornings. On my way to the racecourse I’ll pick up the Racing Post and The Times from the newsagent in Prestbury Park and flick through the papers in the office.

I started as an assistant fence attendant aged 13 at the Tweseldown point-topoint in the early 1970s. I went from a bit of eventing to point-to-pointing and that really stirred my interest in racing.

During the Festival I might sleep at the course, but only in special circumstances. For instance, if we’re doing overnight watering, which we’ve done four times in the last ten years, or if the frost covers are going down. We use John Kettley, formerly of the Met Office, for our weather forecasts. He’s become pretty adept at interpreting data for Prestbury Park.

I suppose Festival Trials Day in 2013, when we removed the snow off the track twice to get the show on the road, was quite challenging. So too was defying ‘Windy Wednesday’, which had to be cancelled at the 2008 Festival, and we ran 19 races over the final two days when we could have just preserved the Grade 1 events.

Pretty well all the water we use on the course is recycled because the racecourse sits in

This is the time of year when the spotlight shines on Cheltenham’s SIMON CLAISSE like no other.

Reading Shardlake takes his mind off things – but not much else does! a bit of a bowl with a stream running through the middle.

We extract irrigation water from the stream, put it in the reservoir and on to the racecourse. Using our drainage, the water goes back into the stream so it literally goes round in circles. The volume of water we take out of the stream is a tiny fraction of what falls on our site in a normal rainfall year.

Lunch is usually a sandwich at any time of day. And I don’t eat during race meetings, just an occasional nibble of chocolate or something like

that. I don’t sit down to a proper meal until it’s all over.

As Director of Racing, in addition to Clerk of the Course, I put together the programme for the 16 days’ racing, look after the prizemoney budget with a sponsorship colleague and make sure we are putting on the right opportunities for the right time of year. Basically, managing everything that is necessary for staging racing efficiently.

I have always been interested in property development and Annabel

and I bought a farm in 2013 and have done a lot of work on the house and are ready to set about the garden and grounds. Elliott and I are doing the dry stonewalling. I also enjoy gardening and one of my great relaxations is walking up and down behind the mower and, although I say it myself, we have well-kept lawns at home.

Most weekends I will exercise one of the horses or go hunting and Elliott, who is ten, is into pony racing, which keeps us busy. We had an outing to London the other day to see the Cirque du Soleil to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday. If I can, I like a day’s fishing and we try to go ski-ing in France, or to Devon in the summer.

Quite often I don’t get home until half seven and the boys will have had their meal.

Annabel and I sit down to our evening meal round about 88.30. On the rare occasions I cook, perhaps on Annabel’s birthday, I’ll produce some sort of fish. My favourite is crab.

It’s bed after the 10 o’clock news headlines and I often take a book with me. I have just finished the fifth book in CJ Sansom’s Shardlake series, fictionalising the times of Henry VIII. They provide great escapism for me.

Mostly I’m a good sleeper except when I’m attuned to the weather around race meetings. Often when I’m wanting rain, I find myself lying awake in bed listening out for it.

Back in 2013, I remember being woken by a howling gale at 3.15 in the morning; I went outside and the ground was like iron. I contacted the Cheltenham racecourse weather station to be informed the temperature was minus 12. We had already put down the frost covers, though, and managed to race.

Interview by Tim Richards

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

DAR7795 OB full page Epaulette 16 FEB15 11/02/2015 17:39 Page 1

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