PLUS
Aintree memories
Charlie Swan recalls void National drama
Ocala calling
Florida sales house’s global appeal
Life’s a breeze
Mark Grant relishing consignor role
‘I have to prove myself all over again’
The best value sire in Britain of blacktype performers over the last three years – no stallion standing for less than £25,000 has sired more.
61% WINNERS TO RUNNERS 10% BLACKTYPE HORSES TO RUNNERS
15 GROUP WINNERS TO DATE
The most accomplished Danehill-line stallion standing in Great Britain today
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Prior to the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, no one knew quite how good Constitution Hill was, for all his abundant promise at that stage of his career, least of all owner Michael Buckley.
“Nicky [Henderson] keeps churning out these good horses, nurturing and bringing on the likes of Sprinter Sacre, Altior and Shishkin,” Buckley told the magazine. “Somebody’s going to be lucky and have another one of those and who knows, maybe it will be me?
“I have got lucky – maybe I’ve got very lucky. The horse has to do it on a much bigger stage now – but he looks very promising.”
Constitution Hill subsequently produced a stunning performance to take the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by 22 lengths, suggesting that Buckley was indeed a very lucky man. Two facile victories this season were followed by another sensational Festival appearance in the Champion Hurdle last month, as the brilliant six-year-old dismissed his rivals with ease in recording a nine-length triumph under Nico de Boinville, surely the luckiest jump jockey on the planet at present.
While the Constitution Hill story is still in its early stages, as connections decide at which point, if at all, they send their superstar chasing, the chapter has closed on outstanding mare Honeysuckle’s racing adventure. Her Festival farewell went according to script as Kenny Alexander’s nine-year-old supplied the fairytale ending everyone had hoped for, with victory number 17 of a remarkable career that has been expertly managed by trainer Henry de Bromhead.
Bill Selwyn’s excellent photographs captured all the drama at this year’s four-day spectacular (The Big Picture, pages 16-27), which also saw Galopin Des Champs confirm his status as the best three-mile chaser in training with a superb display in the Gold Cup under an ice-cool ride from Paul Townend.
With Cheltenham behind us and Aintree up next – our back-page interview with former top jockey Charlie Swan recalls his track highlights and his part in ‘the National that never was’ in 1993 – attention turns to the Flat turf season and
one man who cannot wait to kick on this year is Owen Burrows.
The Lambourn trainer had a remarkable campaign in 2022, his domestic strike-rate of 31 per cent featuring two Group 1s and four other Group races, while also enjoying Group 2 strikes in France and Dubai.
Unsurprisingly, his tremendous year caught the attention of a number of owners and Burrows has upwards of 50 horses to go to war with in 2023, including stable star Hukum, back in training after sustaining an injury in his Coronation Cup success at Epsom. It’s sure to be an exciting season for the handler though he acknowledges that matching last year’s numbers will be difficult.
“Realistically, we can’t keep up that 31 per cent strike-rate,” Burrows tells Julian Muscat (The Big Interview, pages 30-34). “It was a unique year in
that sense. Anything in the high teens or low twenties would be good, although I’m not a big percentages man anyway.
“I think a bigger challenge is to prove that last season was no one-hit wonder. I’d love to be fighting in that ring again this year. People said we punched above our weight, but I do feel I have to prove myself all over again.”
Also in this issue, Bloodstock Editor Nancy Sexton discovers why buyers are flocking to Florida for Ocala’s premier two-year-old sale (pages 36-39) while James Thomas talks to former jump jockey Mark Grant to hear about his change of direction as a consignor in the breeze-up sector (pages 40-44).
“The chapter has closed on Honeysuckle’s racing adventure”
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We know racehorses can be unpredictable. Our Third Party Liability Insurance is here to give you peace of mind. Covering horses in training, going into training, thoroughbred broodmares and homebred youngstock as owners are currently vulnerable to claims even when their horse is in someone else’s possession*.
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In the post-Cheltenham glow of a well-run Festival, which included some of the best sport witnessed at Prestbury Park, there is a temptation to sit back and believe everything is now alright. We have the prospect of Aintree to come and the start of the new Flat turf season.
At this stage the changes to the whip rules, which seemed to dominate the lead up to the four days in March, seemed to have landed well, with the jockeys managing to get most of the rides right in terms of number of strikes and the angle that they were being administered. For that we must give them great credit. We still await the gambling white paper but there seemed a genuine mood swing, both at Cheltenham as well as in certain media outlets, that the racing/gambling link is perhaps not as dangerous a threat to the vast majority of us as previously being put forward.
However, the real picture of British racing and its new governance structure is about to emerge over the coming weeks. Much work has already been done on the 2024 fixture list, with some fundamental changes made.
Work has been informed by previously inaccessible betting data from bookmakers and media rights companies, assumptions have been made, and we are about to see if the industry is ready for these fundamental changes.
There has already been pushback and some of the assumptions called into question. Are we really all crying out for more Sunday racing? It is a question that is beginning to consistently nag in the background.
The new Commercial Committee will shortly have to make its first report to the BHA Board on the work done to date. Will the committee split in its opinion down political lines, or will a consensus be reached, with the odd dissenting voice? Will the BHA Board take the committee’s advice or will it go its own way, perhaps employing a more longer-term view? One thing is certain: there will be some robust discussions and at some point a view will need to be taken as to what strategy and risks will be taken. Nothing is certain when embarking on a new strategy.
I am very hopeful that the progress made to date can be followed through by recommendations that the BHA Board can get fully behind. There will be muck and bullets, but it could and should be worth it.
As we appear to be skirting another global banking crisis, it will also be very interesting to see the results from the round of breeze-up sales, which kick off this month. Previously the bloodstock industry has held onto its record
results, however there were signs in the recent yearling sales in Australia and New Zealand that the market was beginning to show some weakness. The breeze-up sales are obviously highly targeted and specialised, but a good sales season to help keep the wheels turning will be important.
The global situation becomes ever more apparent when we consider the high-class racing, and sales, across the world over the last few weeks and into April. From Dubai to Australia and beyond, it truly is a worldwide industry with so many players enjoying success across the continents. Weakness in financial markets will invariably
impact us all, so I hope this is just a blip rather than a fullscale market meltdown.
Finally, it was fantastic to see so many ROA members in the marquee during the Cheltenham Festival. There was tremendous support from our membership for the facility, which has become something of a fixture now in the fabric of the week. The event is expensive to host, but with the support of you, the members, it is certainly worth it.
The ROA Board is constantly looking at ways of extending our benefits package to members and work is ongoing around the launch of a new tier of membership aimed at attracting the future audience for our sport. With that in mind, seeing 3,000 students at Chepstow on March 19 certainly pointed the way to a brighter tomorrow.
“Will the BHA Board take the Commercial Committee’s advice or will it go its own way?”
www.bbag-sales.de
Winner Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Gr.1
Gr.1 winner as 3 and 4yo
Spring Breeze Up Sale: 19th May 2023
Entries close: 7th April
August Online-Sale: 18th August 2023
Entries close: 4th August
Premier Yearling Sale: 1st September 2023
Entries close: 14th April
October Mixed Sales: 13th and 14th October 2023
1st entries close: 21st July, 2nd entries close: 4th September
With the breeding season in full swing and mares being covered and getting in foal, I am reminded of how when making decisions on which stallion to use, the chosen horse’s location is becoming more and more important. Considerations such as the cost of travelling the mare to be covered and the time and paperwork involved if journeys involve crossing borders have taken on much greater significance.
The TBA’s latest Economic Impact Study, published in January, gave a stark illustration of how the number of stallions standing in Britain has declined from 300 in 2012 to just 120 in 2022. This is in serious contrast to the trends in Ireland and France, Britain’s nearest equivalent competitors in terms of thoroughbred breeding.
The EIS pointed out: “Since 2010, the number of stallions standing in GB has fallen significantly more than in Ireland. In 2010, the number of stallions registered in the two jurisdictions was comparable. Since 2010, however, the stallion count has more than halved in GB, whereas in Ireland numbers have fallen at a slower rate. In France, the trend contrasts both GB and Ireland, where stallion numbers have grown from 172 in 2010 to 186 in 2021.”
As for the number of British-born stallions standing in this country, the EIS painted a further worrying picture, noting that the total fell from 141 in 2009 to 61 in 2021. The situation is not likely to get better any day soon, for another alarming piece of data is that the number of new first-season stallions standing in Britain declined from 21 in 2019 to just nine last year.
All in all, therefore, British breeders are already at a disadvantage, encountering less choice among stallions and facing the extra cost of sending mares to Ireland or to an even greater extent France to be covered. This latter point was also highlighted in the EIS, which added context by noting: “Interviewees suggested these costs did not prohibit the movement of broodmares universally but impacted the movement [to] stallions with lower nomination fees.”
The declining number of British stallions is not only bad for the industry but has a significant effect on the balance of trade in the thoroughbred world. In 2021 covering fees for mares sent to Irish-based stallions totalled £97 million, giving a boost to Ireland’s bloodstock industry and its exchequer of well over £100m when keep fees and extras are added in.
This is not a good position for British breeders and while we still have an elite mare band and some top stallions in this country, the risk of a further drop in stallion numbers is very real and must be guarded against.
Julian Richmond-Watson ChairmanThe Great British Bonus scheme incentivises British breeders to use home-based stallions, and there has been a modest increase in the numbers of mares being covered here. However, if thoroughbred breeding in Britain is to be sustained and enhanced, the challenge of ensuring that more stallions of both codes stand here has to be taken on.
We will be talking to as many stallion owners as possible over the next few months, seeking their thoughts and guidance on what would encourage them to stand stallions, and more stallions, in Britain.
Standing stallions is a high-risk, high-reward business and we and the industry should be open minded about how we examine the opportunities that are available and could
be made available. For instance, bearing in mind the trade imbalance, we should not be shy of seeking government support, whether in direct financial support or indirectly through taxation support, or by way of other incentive schemes that encourage investment.
British breeding is a world-class industry that contributes not only to the economy but the prestige of the country and how others see us. The government and the racing industry should recognise how important it is that we maintain and improve on this to the benefit of all involved.
Properly highlighted and promoted and with support from the industry, we can bring major breeders and stud owners to these shores along with desired quality stallions. In all, this would be good business for GB plc.
“The challenge of ensuring that more stallions of both codes stand here has to be taken on”
In what adds up to significantly good news for the sport, ITV have agreed a new three-year deal to show exclusive free-to-air coverage of British racing until the end of 2026.
More than 100 days of live coverage will be broadcast across ITV1 and ITV4 each year, along with morning racing programme The Opening Show. The deal
encompasses the crown jewel events of the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and the Derby.
Niall Sloane, Director of Sport for ITV, said: “This deal will take us to a decade of racing on ITV and we’re delighted to be able to continue to bring to viewers well over 100 days of live coverage of this wonderful sport, including some of
the most enjoyable, storied and thrilling events of each year.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and our other partners within racing to bring audiences the very best racing has to offer in the coming years.”
Martin Stevenson, CEO of RMG, said: “On behalf of our racecourses, we are
Last month’s Cheltenham Festival recorded a total drop in attendance of 39,027, compared to 2022, with the cost of living crisis as well as rail and teacher strikes among the reasons advanced by racecourse management.
Cheltenham boss Ian Renton is optimistic that 2024 will see crowd figures more in line with last year’s numbers, although those present last month, especially on the Tuesday and Wednesday, will have welcomed more room to manoeuvre and fewer queues for refreshments and facilities.
However, barriers to attending,
delighted to have cemented our relationship with ITV for a further three years.
“ITV have been an excellent partner for the sport, providing more terrestrial coverage here in the UK than in any other racing jurisdiction in the world, illustrating both the commitment of the broadcaster and the enduring popularity of the sport.”
David Leyden Dunbar, Arena Racing Company Director of Commercial Strategy, said: “ITV have been a fantastic partner for the sport since 2017, and we are delighted to continue the relationship for a further three years. Such widespread terrestrial television coverage is incredibly important to everyone involved in British racing and ITV should be applauded for providing the sport with such a platform.”
ITV’s portfolio also includes football, rugby, motorsport, cycling and the NFL. The importance of a premier free-to-air broadcaster showcasing the sport is also not lost on British Horseracing Authority Chief Executive Julie Harrington.
She said: “ITV’s coverage and promotion of British racing is exceptional, bringing our sport’s many wonderful stories to life with passion and pride.
“At the BHA we are keen to work closely with our broadcast partners in order to help them further improve the viewer experience for both new and existing fans alike, with innovation as to how the sport is packaged and presented being a core element of the industry’s strategy.”
such as the soaring cost of accommodation in Cheltenham and surrounding areas, and the price of tickets and food and drink on course, will not be going away, and have also been forwarded as reasons for the popularity of the Festival perhaps taking a dip in terms of racegoers, if not levels of interest generally –which arguably have never been higher.
Cheltenham capped the daily attendance last month at 68,500 in a bid to make the experience more comfortable for racegoers, but while Gold Cup day tickets sold out earlier than ever, that upper limit was not required for any of the first three days.
Tuesday’s attendance was 88 per cent of capacity, Wednesday’s 74 per cent and Thursday’s 91 per cent.
Commenting on the crowd figures,
Alastair Warwick was last month named the new Chief Executive at Ascot, having previously been Managing Director at the worldfamous Berkshire track.
Warwick joined Ascot in 2008 and had been serving as Acting Chief Executive since Vivien Currie’s departure in October following a brief tenure.
Sir Francis Brooke, His Majesty’s Representative at Ascot and Chairman of Ascot Authority (Holdings) Ltd, said: “I am delighted that Alastair has accepted the position of Chief Executive on a permanent basis.
“Over the last 15 years he has gained the leadership and strategic skills needed for this multifaceted role. He has also played a key part in developing an excellent senior management team.
“Alastair has a deep knowledge of Ascot and the racing industry. In recent years, in addition to being primarily responsible for racecourse operations, Alastair has led vital commercial relationships such as with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the successful development of the World Pool.”
Brooke added: “In recent months he
Renton said: “It was a deliberate action to cap the attendance and we had capacity crowds on each day last year, which would have in part been down to a post-pandemic bounce.
“Gold Cup day sold out earlier this year than ever as tickets were gone by the end of January. On the first three days tickets were selling very well until we saw a significant slowdown in sales six to eight weeks ago.
“The train strikes announced around that time caused a bit of uncertainty and the last ten per cent of racegoers that would buy their tickets in the last month are the ones most likely to be thinking whether to go ahead or not. With the cost of living and the weather not looking that promising, it had an impact on whether those people chose to buy or not.
“Attending the Cheltenham
has also been heavily engaged in wider media and betting rights negotiations, including the delivery of the successful renewal of the ITV terrestrial contract which was announced last week.”
Warwick said: “I am thrilled to be taking on the role on a permanent basis and would like to thank Francis and his fellow trustees for the opportunity and for the trust they have placed in me.
“We have an amazing team. From raceday ‘bowler hat’ stewards through to the senior team, everyone has the same aspirations for Ascot.
“During 15 years at Ascot I have seen some of the best racing in the world and I look forward to welcoming future champions, equine and human.”
Festival isn’t going to be a cheap experience, but in comparison to other big sporting events it is one that provides good value for money. There are aspects around attending, such as hotel prices and travel costs, that we can’t control, but we are always putting in lots of effort around prices for attending and for the costs once you are on the course.”
Speaking to the Racing Post, Renton added: “Most people coming here see it and recognise it as a special event to attend. Equally, many people will not come every year and this might have been a year, given the economy and given how everybody wanted to be back last year after the pandemic, where they decided to give it a miss.
“I have total confidence, given these factors, that crowds will be back to normal levels next year.”
Charman David Thorpe will step down from the role at the end of this month.
Thorpe, 73, formerly Chairman of the Racecourse Association (RCA), has been Chairman of ARC since April 2014.
He was previously Chairman of Arena Leisure Plc and has served on the boards of both the Levy Board and British Horseracing Authority.
Thorpe said: “I have decided that, after nearly a decade as Chairman, it is the right time to step down. I look forward to some more time in retirement, as well as the opportunity to pursue other interests.
“It has been a significant source of pride to see the company flourish and grow over the past few years, and without doubt we have assembled an incredibly smart, passionate and hard-working team. I’m equally delighted to have been part of creating a new industry structure, a major improvement which should serve the sport well into the future.”
He added: “I’m sure the company will only continue to get stronger and more successful over the coming years, and I’m proud to have played a part in that foundation for growth.
“I will continue to be a passionate
supporter and advocate for the business and the sport.”
Martin Cruddace, ARC Chief Executive, said: “David has been an exceptional Chairman, and we have been very fortunate to have benefited from his experience and expertise for such a long tenure.
“He has played a pivotal role in the growth and transformation of the company over that time, and his detailed knowledge of the industry has been an enormous help.
“Both myself and our shareholders would like to thank him for his expertise, hard work and support, and completely understand his decision to step down.
“For me personally, he has been a source of constant support, counsel and guidance.”
He added: “David will remain a very good friend of both me and the company, and there will be a special welcome for him whenever he comes racing at our tracks.”
The industry reached a significant milestone in August 2022 with the launch of an updated Bloodstock Industry Code of Practice. Borne out of recommendations made by the British Horseracing Authority’s Review of the Buying and Selling of Bloodstock and Racehorses in
December 2019, it replaced the former code, by then 12 years old.
One of the first steps in the process was to form a group, the Bloodstock Industry Forum (BIF), whereby differing parties – namely the BHA, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association (ITBA), Breeze-Up Consignors Association (BUCA), Federation of Bloodstock Agents (FBA), National Trainers Federation (NTF), Racehorse Owners Association (ROA), Thoroughbred Breeders Association (TBA) and the major British and Irish sale companies –came together in producing a new code.
BIF, together with the BHA, has since launched a Bloodstock Industry eLearning Course, developed for the benefit of those involved with the sale and purchase of racehorses.
The course aims to educate and raise awareness of the importance of following the sales and purchase processes and protocols as set out in the Bloodstock Industry Code of Practice. As such, it covers subjects
such as application of the rules, general duties of participants, conflicts of interest, market abuse, bribery, secret profits and other payments. It is compulsory for all FBA members.
The Bloodstock module can be found on www.racing2learn.com and can be accessed by creating an account at https://racing2learn.com/ login/signup.php.
“The Bloodstock Industry eLearning course has been produced by BIF, with the help of the BHA,” says Oliver St Lawrence, Chairman of the FBA.
“The Bloodstock Industry Code of Practice applies to all participants across the sales industry, whether it be bloodstock agents, trainers and racing managers purchasing on behalf of clients, syndicate managers purchasing on behalf of syndicates, or an individual purchasing on behalf of a family member or friend.
“Everyone should be educated enough to bid with integrity and therefore we are encouraging those across all sectors of the industry to complete the course.”
Danny Burton
Conditional jockey retires from the saddle aged 36 to embark on a new career in the construction industry with former rider Will Featherstone.
Jessica Harrington
Leading Irish trainer, 76, reveals she is receiving treatment for breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.
Racing careers
James Bowen
Jump jockey attached to Nicky Henderson’s Lambourn stable breaks his arm in a fall at Huntingdon.
Keith Dalgleish
Record-breaking dual-purpose Scottish trainer who has sent out over 950 winners since 2011 says he will relinquish his licence this year.
Auctav
Online auction house appoints Sophie Teixeira as a bloodstock manager, based in Paris.
Rossa Ryan
22-year-old rides his 500th winner in Britain on Theonlywayiswessex at Southwell on March 7.
New podcast series ‘Race to your Career’ showcases the jobs available in British racing and breeding, and can be accessed via YouTube.
Media rights
Ascot signs new four-year deal with ARC that will see its betting shop rights switching from SIS to The Racing Partnership.
Ted Durcan
Retired Classic-winning jockey is appointed bloodstock consultant to MyRacehorse, which operates micro-share syndicates around the globe.
Kindred Group
Gambling operator fined £7.1 million by the Gambling Commission for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
Liam Jones
Flat jockey who partnered close to 600 winners is forced to retire aged 37 due to an ankle injury he sustained while riding out in 2021.
Ellen Chaloner
The first woman to hold a trainer’s licence in Britain will have a race named in her honour on 2,000 Guineas day at Newmarket.
Top-class chaser won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and King George VI Chase twice among six Grade 1 victories for trainer Tom Taaffe.
Havana Gold 13
Group 1 winner for Qatar Racing in the Prix Jean Prat went on to stand at Tweenhills Farm, siring top sprinter and sire Havana Grey.
Pastorius 14
Haras de la Hetraie sire’s best runners include Beverly D Stakes heroine Dalika and recent Triumph Hurdle third Zenta.
Pearling 17
Full-sister to Giant’s Causeway was a star broodmare for Blue Diamond Stud, producing triple Group 1 winner Decorated Knight.
Devine Actress 18
Daughter of Theatrical, dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Oscar Performance, dies after foaling a filly at Mill Ridge Farm in Kentucky.
Heart’s Cry 22
Top Japanese runner won the Dubai Sheema Classic and sired 44 Group/ Graded winners from his base at Shadai Stallion Station.
TIMEFORM RATED 128
Won Gr.1 Tatersalls Gold Cup (2015)
Won Gr.1 Coral-Eclipse
Won Gr.1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes
Won Gr.1 Tatersalls Gold Cup (2013)
Won/placed in 15 Group races inc. 8 Gr.1 races
Won/placed in 7 BT races inc. 1st Gr.1 57th Preis von Europa, 1st Gr.2 Grand Prix de Chantlly, 1st Gr.2 York Stakes, etc.
HARPER, SAINT LAWRENCE, PRECISELY and PERSIAN ROYAL from limited books.
The leading Britsh sire - beter than Frankel, Dubawi, Kingman, Pivotal, Oasis Dream, etc. (8+ runners, Hyperion Promotions to 31/12/22)
Lifetime average yearling price £47,000 And Persian Royal sold at Tatersalls HIT for 450,000gns.
Excellent results from reduced books of mares
Honeysuckle
Outstanding mare is retired aged nine after her victory in the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, her 13th victory in Grade 1 company.
Lonhro
Darley’s champion stallion is retired from covering duties aged 25 having sired 13 individual Group 1 winners including Pierro and Kementari.
Top performer in South America and winner of the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland is retired to take up stud duties at Haras Carampangue.
Stephen Davies 53
Former champion apprentice jockey, father of current star Harry Davies, won the Group 1 Gran Criterium on Noble Pearl in 1998.
Mystic Meg 80
Famous astrologer was a noted owner and breeder, enjoying Group 3 success with the Mark Tompkins-trained Astrocharm.
Dick Bonnycastle 88
Canadian businessman, publisher and philanthropist owned Enstone Spark, trained by Barry Hills to win the 1978 1,000 Guineas.
Peter Ridgers 76
Owner of Harry Angel before selling the top sprinter to Godolphin, his colours were carried to Ayr Gold Cup glory by Jimmy Styles.
Jim Lewis 88
Owned three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate; other top horses to carry his silks included Edredon Bleu and Impek.
Sire of leading Australian sprinter Artorius will relocate from Newgate Stud Farm in New South Wales to Blue Gum Farm in Victoria.
Diane Bromley 76
Breeder of top-class jumper Yanworth with husband Bill at Wood Farm Stud, where they stood the leading NH sire Sir Harry Lewis.
Paul Felgate 81
Former trainer enjoyed success under both codes, enjoying his biggest win in the 1988 Flying Childers Stakes with Shuttlecock Corner.
“That was way above our expectations, we were just standing there smiling”
*Shane Power, Tradewinds Stud
The expectation was that Constitution Hill would deliver a dazzling performance in the Unibet Champion Hurdle on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and he didn’t disappoint. The six-year-old travelled like a champion and dismissed his rivals with ease, despite taking off a stride too early at the final hurdle under Nico de Boinville (main image), romping home nine lengths clear of State Man. For owner Michael Buckley and trainer Nicky Henderson (inset, with the jockey and groom Jaydon Lee), for whom this was a tenth Champion Hurdle strike, the question is whether to keep the outstanding Blue Bresil gelding over hurdles or embark on a chasing career, with Buckley stating he would love to win the Gold Cup with Constitution Hill.
There’s all to play for at the second-last fence in the Sporting Life Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase as Jonbon (left), Dysart Dynamo (centre) and El Fabiolo battle it out in the two-mile contest. It was the Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiolo that stayed on more powerfully than his rivals under Paul Townend to record a superb five-and-a-half length success over Jonbon for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede (right), who also hit the target with Impaire Et Passe in the Ballymore.
Honeysuckle provided an emotional farewell as she captured the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on her final racecourse appearance. Love Envoi made her work hard for her victory, pushing the older mare all the way under Jonathan Burke, but it was Honeysuckle who found extra near the line to score by a length and a half, much to the delight of the crowd and jockey
Rachael Blackmore, owner Kenny Alexander and trainer Henry de Bromhead (right).
Photos Bill Selwyn
The Real Whacker’s connections had toyed with the idea of running their star novice in the Gold Cup. Instead they opted for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and were rewarded with a thrilling Grade 1 victory. The Patrick Neville-trained gelding, owned by Neville, Mann, Duffus and Dennis, produced a brilliant round of jumping under Sam Twiston-Davies and had enough in reserve to hold off favourite Gerri Colombe, taking the prize by a short-head.
The top-level winners during the week included (from top to bottom) Energumene repeating his success in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase under Paul Townend, with owner Tony Bloom leading in his hero, Cheveley Park Stud’s Envoi Allen and Rachael Blackmore in the Ryanair Chase, the Owners Group’s Stage Star in the Turners Novices’ Chase under an outstanding front-running ride by Paul Nicholls’s stable jockey Harry Cobden, while JP McManus’s Sire Du Berlais stayed on best of all for Mark Walsh to lift the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle, providing trainer Gordon Elliott with his first triumph in the three-mile contest
The only major query about Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs concerned his stamina for the three-and-a-quarter mile contest. The imposing seven-year-old, trained by Willie Mullins (above) for Audrey Turley, answered that question in brilliant style under a sublime ride by Paul Townend. He held up Galopin Des Champs towards the rear before making a decisive move at the final fence, picking off the gallant Bravemansgame under Harry Cobden and bounding up the hill to record a famous seven-length victory.
Equal access: the theme behind a government initiative announced to coincide with International Women’s Day in early March and aimed at offering the same sports for boys and girls during PE and extracurricular time in schools. Its appearance will provide cold comfort for those already pursuing the sporting activity that most supports equal access.
Despite the impression that permeates recent developments fostered by such as the BHA, British horseracing opened its doors to stable staff, riders and trainers of both genders decades ago. More than that, as the RCA pointed out in IWD-inspired press releases, half of its own 12-strong executive team are women, while of the 47 fully qualified clerks of the course in Britain, ten are women.
In that sense, therefore, British racing is losing out, almost being left behind or overlooked for its openness and inclusion, by the latest government spending wheeze. The government will provide more than £600 million over the next two academic years for PE and something called Sport Premium, £22m for the School Games Organisers Network, to be operated by a 450-strong workforce supporting “2.2m participation opportunities for children, including 28,000 competitive school sport events,” according to the DCMS press release, and up to £57m for opening sports facilities outside
school hours, “especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.”
It could be money well spent but the drive, unashamedly admitted by government, comes from a moment in time – the late success of the England Lionesses football team over Germany at Euro 2022 – that represents a fairly low support base, which still shows itself through the lop-sided results that litter each week’s
Where is The Dikler when you need him, her or them? The Racing Post’s erstwhile gossip column would have made hay with the December Daily Telegraph announcement of the birth of “a beautiful daughter Alice Jayne” to a Sky Sports Racing presenter and a Group 1-winning jockey, not to mention the chance to take a swipe at registering for this summer’s Racing Foundation-backed industry conference but having to sign up to promotions from a tourism/travel firm offering horseback trails in Patagonia to do so. But the tittle-tattle element that still features in most print media has gone from the trade paper.
When the embryo Post began recruiting staff in mid-1985, the first big-name, big-money recruits included a member of the Daily Mail’s Nigel Dempster diary team, whose column originally appeared three times a week. However, as suitable content became harder to find, the already relatively small pool of possible subjects got smaller and smaller, although interest remained high among those who did not feature.
Translating the general attraction of a national newspaper gossip column to the narrow world of racing was always likely to be a hard ask, as illustrated by the reaction of a leading trainer who stopped taking calls from the Post after taking umbrage at a story that, however innocuously intended, mentioned his daughter’s ‘lover’ – his daughter being about 15 at the time. Three days became two, then one, then none at all.
Outside the Saturday greyhound page feature Off the Leash by Mutley, which has lasted the course to this day, the Post’s nearest subsequent equivalent until the invention of The Dikler was the Fly on the Wall. Yours truly used this extremely useful device in a weekly column to raise instances and observations
that did not require, nor would always achieve, attribution yet were invariably on the button.
The Fly was permanently squashed when personal semiretirement beckoned, and the corporate effort that went into compiling The Dikler’s occasional contributions failed to survive a change of editor. Racing gossip has largely died on the vine, apart from occasional mentions in Private Eye
Maybe the advance of social media is to blame, as every public move seems to be laid bare and chronicled, albeit with an individual, opinionated, often cruel and inward-looking approach. The nudge-nudge element that sustains gossip is sadly missing.
That was a particular shame, for example, during a week of events at the late-February’s Asian Racing Conference in Melbourne, where, apart from marvelling at the fact the burger bar at Flemington on big-race Saturday ran out of burgers before the sixth and the champagne bar ran out of, yes, champagne, activity among a seriously large British contingent was ripe for small talk.
The expert on overseas affairs whose startling new hairstyle seems redolent of a midlife crisis; the two senior Jockey Club execs who wandered into a business meeting, stood for a group photograph and then realised they were in the wrong room; the deposed racehorse aftercare CEO being lauded for good works on the international front; the former racecourse commercial director selling his new company’s wares as a legitimate ticket tout: all were there for the spotting, yet they went unmasked.
Identities will be revealed on receipt of the usual tenner in a plain envelope, but, sadly, with no guarantee of media silence.
national league women’s matches, if football is the best guide to popularity.
By contrast, British horseracing’s pursuit of total openness comes cheap for the government, at least at the next level up from mainstream schools and as demonstrated by the example of the National Horseracing College, in which I must declare an interest as a long-standing trustee.
fitness and looking after money.
The NHC expects 128 graduates aged 16 to 18 to complete the course successfully this academic year, with the British Racing School at least matching, if not slightly bettering, those numbers.
The figures, coming from two well-established, well-funded providers, elicit a quizzical reaction on hearing a claim that a new agency, the RMF Group’s Equine Training Academy in Solihull, which draws from unemployed people and ex-offenders of 19 and over, intends “to provide 150 new entrants into the racing industry in year one.” But that’s another story.
The NHC’s breakdown of government funding, which can be matched on average by the BRS, means that the total amount derived from the central source will reach £681,088 in the academic year, a significant amount for the college but a drop in the ocean when judged on either the government’s education and training spending or its new-found support for out-of-school activities.
In 2021-22, the last full academic year, the government contributed £5,321, or 44 per cent, to the cost of each student on the college’s 18-week residential foundation course, which comprises 12 weeks at the NHC between Doncaster and Bawtry, and a six-week work-experience placement.
After the 18-week period, there is a near-certain guarantee of a permanent job for those with the right aptitude, who through the course will have gained a Level 1 Diploma in Work-Based Racehorse Care, functional skills in maths and English, an emergency first-aid certificate, a Level 3 award in the principles of transporting horses by road on short journeys, and a Level 1 Introduction to Horseracing Industry award, not to mention life skills including cooking, nutrition,
Equally galling is the reference to the latest project’s being “especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs,” exactly the areas that the two schools have addressed for several years.
On the specific topic of catering for girls, the NHC’s latest ratio figures make illuminating reading. In 2021-22, graduates comprised 99 females to 20 males for a five-to-one split, whereas the boys will register a slight comeback over the current year, coming in at 26 to the girls’ 97 for a strike-rate of nearly four-to-one.
There can be no stronger argument that equal access is working, especially for girls, in the education and training of stable staff. It would be encouraging if the message percolated through to government loud enough to get an acknowledgement.
“British racing is being overlooked for
openness by the latest government spending wheeze”
By any litmus, 2022 was an extraordinary year for Owen Burrows. The Lambourn trainer saddled 25 individual horses in 67 races for a yield of 21 winners, which equates to an eye-popping strike rate of 31 per cent. A further 24 runners finished in the first four, which meant that 67 per cent of all his runners returned home with prize-money.
For all that, Burrows’ exceptional strike-rate did not make headlines when set against his Pattern-race haul. He plundered eight in all, among them a brace of Group 1s with Hukum and Minzaal. The harvest might have been greater still had both horses not succumbed to season-ending injuries – in Hukum’s case after winning the Coronation Cup in early June.
It made the perfect riposte to those who wondered whether Burrows would fade away after the death of his sole patron, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, in 2021. The size of his string halved in consequence, he was forced to make redundancies, and he relocated from the palatial Kingwood House to Farncombe Down Stables, which had been a rehabilitation station for the sheikh’s horses.
Burrows’ red-hot streak could not have been more apposite since he has just assumed sole financial responsibility for his new base. He has morphed from salaried trainer to one paying all the bills. The commercial imperative is for him to fill his 40-box
yard to balance the books.
His whirlwind beginning has not gone unnoticed, but it now gives rise to a different question. Can Burrows contrive an encore in 2023?
“Realistically, we can’t keep up that 31 per cent strike-rate,” he says. “It was a unique year in that sense. Anything in the high teens or low twenties would be good, although I’m not a big percentages man anyway.”
Instead, Burrows is preoccupied by the bigger picture. “I think a bigger challenge is to prove that last season was no one-hit wonder,” he offers. “I’d love to be fighting in that ring again this year. People said we punched above our weight, but I do feel I have to prove myself all over again.”
It’s a defiant synopsis from the 48-year-old, an old-school horseman of a decidedly conservative hue. Having lived a charmed professional life to this point, he goes out of his way to keep stressing how fortunate he has been. And he has. Yet he strains at the leash for the season to start in earnest. The time is nigh for him to carve out his own identity.
In this respect Burrows is trapped in a hall of mirrors. A gilded apprenticeship as Sir Michael Stoute’s assistant for 12 years, followed by his role as Sheikh Hamdan’s private trainer, prompted some to assess him with a beady eye. He was the chosen one, after all. And when success duly followed… well, it was all down to the
Lambourn-based Owen Burrows has a tough task to match his stunning statistics from 2022 but he is excited by the challenge and determined to further prove he can more than cut it as a public trainer
calibre of his horses.
He is aware of this, hence his repeated references to his good fortune. Yet there is something reassuring in the way he has handled good horses. His demeanour exudes a confidence bereft of swagger, fortified by a quiet, steely resolve.
A cursory look at his modus operandi reveals that he never overfaces his horses. Their careers tend to evolve over long periods of time – and Hukum is a case in point. Burrows was content to keep Baaeed’s full-brother away from Group 1 company until the horse had won five lesser Pattern races. Hukum then contested the Sheema Classic before he streaked away with the Coronation Cup in June. He had
properly announced himself halfway through his five-year-old season. Similarly, Minzaal broke through at
win again for nearly two years after a prolonged absence through injury. Then, having won the Hackwood Stakes in July, he glided away with the Sprint Cup at Haydock two months later.
The kicker was that Minzaal injured himself in the process and was promptly retired. “It definitely took the gloss off of it,” says Burrows, a wince breaking out across his face. “With Minzaal, it was vitally important he got his Group 1 bracket as he was going off to stud. Thankfully it was mission accomplished.”
the highest level towards the end of his four-year-old campaign. Having won the Gimcrack Stakes, he didn’t
There was also a sense of personal fulfilment, since Burrows picked out Minzaal from Book 2 of the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
“The year after we bought Minzaal we just lost out on Desert Crown”
“Sheikh Hamdan would let his trainers buy two horses for themselves at that sale,” the trainer reflects. “The year after we bought Minzaal we just lost out on a colt by Nathaniel. He turned out to be Desert Crown, who went and won the Derby.”
Although Minzaal is now living the stallion life of Riley, the good news for Burrows is that Hukum is back
in training, having had three screws pinned into a fracture on his off-hind fetlock. “He looks great,” the trainer says. “We will look to get a prep run into him before the Hardwicke Stakes.”
Hukum’s campaign will be crucial if Burrows is to replicate last year’s deeds even if two other equine stalwarts are also back for more. Alflaila’s projected tilt at the Bahrain International Trophy in November was shelved, again by injury. The much-improved four-yearold closed his sophomore season with a pair of Group 3 triumphs and remains on the rise.
So too does Anmaat, whose threefor-three campaign included a battling victory in the Group 2 Prix Dollar on Arc weekend. Now a five-year-old, Anmaat has never finished out of the frame in ten career starts.
Further Pattern-race victories seem assured in the short term, although Burrows knows such horses will be hard to replace. Against that, Shadwell still has a presence in the stable. Having been sent four two-year-olds at the start of last year, Burrows’ exploits in 2022 meant that he received double that quota this time round. They will not lack for quality.
But that’s not all. On hearing
say how far up the ladder they might go.”
All of which means that Burrows starts the new campaign with more than 50 horses on his books. His accountant says that a full yard of 40 horses for 365 days each year will generate income in excess of £1 million. It’s more than enough to keep Burrows in business, yet, beyond that, further expansion will prove challenging.
There may be scope within his lease of Farncombe Down for Burrows to build more boxes, but that’s not where the problem lies. “The big issue is finding good staff,” he says.
“Until the staff shortage is resolved, I wouldn’t like to expand too much. I think between 60 and 70 horses would be manageable. But to have 200 horses, as Sir Michael [Stoute] had for a time when I was there, you need a top team. Even then, it was still a big number. I know one Newmarket trainer who could have more horses but cannot find the right staff.”
Burrows became familiar with the broader question of stable staff in his time at Kingwood House, where he started training in 2016. The property was built by Sheikh Hamdan in the early 1990s for Major Dick Hern after the latter’s controversial eviction from the West Ilsley stables owned by Queen Elizabeth II. Hern was succeeded by his assistant, Marcus Tregoning, who trained at Kingwood House for 15 years until he moved to Whitsbury in 2013.
“It used to take half an hour to get horses to the gallops from Kingwood House,” Burrows reflects. “It was very labour-intensive. Marcus [Tregoning] was very successful when he trained there; he had a Derby winner with Sir Percy, and Nayef was top-class. Even so, he couldn’t make it work financially, which goes to show it was nigh on impossible to do that.”
of Shadwell’s streamlining, Sheikh Hamdan’s brother, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, stepped into the breach. He now has 15 horses at Farncombe Down, the same number as Shadwell, and Burrows sees talent in a pair of his three-year-olds. “Tarjeeh and Lajooje both won at Newbury last season,” he says. “They have potential from what I have seen of them, although it’s hard to
Hence the move down into the Lambourn valley, where the string now accesses those same private gallops simply by crossing the road at the stable gates. It means Burrows can have one extra lot each morning, which requires less staff. “That’s an important consideration now that I am paying the bills,” he points out.
Burrows has been using those gallops for more than six years and has learnt how to get the best from them. “It took me a while,” he says. “Sheikh Hamdan once told me that it took the major [Hern] two years to work them out. It gave me hope when I heard that, because if it took him two years it was
Last season was a transitional one for Owen Burrows as he prepared to take the financial reins at Farncombe Down Stables in Lambourn. It prompted him to start cutting his cloth accordingly.
“The way prize-money is in this country, I have stopped travelling horses for hours unless they have a proper chance of winning,” he says. “I probably didn’t have to worry about that sort of thing in the past, but it makes no sense unless you can split the costs [with another trainer]. I’d rather wait a week and send them down the road to Kempton.”
Having trained privately for Sheikh Hamdan until his death in 2021, Burrows now sees British racing’s predicament through a different lens. The former National Hunt jockey believes only wholesale changes can turn the ship around.
“The funding model in Britain is broken beyond repair,” he says. “We need a completely new process; Australia and even France have made it work. And it’s frightening when you see what some people who own and run bookmaking chains are earning.”
Another new development is the need for Burrows to be more active at the sales. He resisted the urge to buy yearlings on spec last autumn; it is just
always going to take anybody else a bit longer. We now have a system which we know works, and I’m a believer in keeping things simple.”
A turning point was the installation of an eight-and-a-half furlong woodchip gallop, a surface which went out of favour with trainers before making a comeback. “Both Aidan [O’Brien] and Joseph [O’Brien] are back on it,” Burrows says.
“Putting in the woodchip was the last project Sheikh Hamdan completed for us here, and it has been a godsend. The surface needs more maintenance because it has to be kept wet. It also means I need a few more horses to make ends meet, but the extra headaches are worth it.”
Not that Burrows is personally charged with irrigating the gallops
Owen Burrowsnot his way. Even though he had four orders to fill, he came away with just two.
“It was a bloody tough market,” he reflects, “so I will try again at the breeze-ups. People at the yearling sales told me I should go ahead and spend the money anyway, because owners change their minds. But I think finding value is important.”
Burrows knows life will never be the same post-Sheikh Hamdan, who was renowned for his patience. It won’t be long before he has to confront the prospect of an impatient owner wanting
before the break of day. That chore is tasked to the automatic sprinkler system, which is fed by a reservoir up on the hill. The sprinkler heads pop up at 3am to ensure a cushioned, forgiving surface ahead of first lot arriving four hours later.
It’s unlikely that a similarly equipped, small training complex exists in Britain. Burrows is blessed, but then, he now has to pay for it. Don’t expect a quantum leap forward in numbers, with horses emerging from rows of temporary boxes to merge with the string at morning exercise. That is not the trainer’s way.
Instead, growth is likely to emanate from results, which is how Embrace came to Farncombe Down. As a two-year-old with Andrew Balding last season Embrace proved a proper
to press ahead with a horse who is not yet ready to run. How will he deal with that?
“It is my job to get across to the owner that it isn’t going to do the horse any good,” he replies. “We will all end up disappointed [in that scenario].
“Owners pay a lot of money to keep a horse in training, so, quite rightly, they may want a say. It is down to trainers to explain what is best for the horse, but I don’t think owners like that would send me a horse in the first place. I think people know my approach, and how I like to train.”
handful, prompting Balding to recommend she leave his bustling yard for a quieter environment. Embrace duly came round on joining Burrows and made a promising debut in November before winning by three and a half lengths at Wolverhampton three weeks later. Her owner, Ahmad Alkhallafi, was delighted.
“It was his first winner in about ten years and he is now dreaming,” Burrows says with a smile. “He asked me how good Embrace is and I had to say I don’t really know; she is such an unknown quality. But she is in the 1,000 Guineas and the French equivalent, so we will probably look at one of the trials if she shows the right signs.”
Burrows has never been a man in a hurry, and never will be. Only his circumstances have changed.
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As the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company (OBS) geared up towards another season of selling two-year-olds last March, there was comfort in the knowledge that the Florida-based auction house could once again rely upon a consistent stream of graduates to advertise their brand.
Approximately 3,000 two-year-olds are likely to be catalogued across its three juvenile auctions that run from March to June, a significant figure that places any European sale in the shade, especially when the logistics of producing such a number to breeze is taken into consideration.
As such, those that shop in Ocala are presented with a serious wealth of opportunity, as borne out by a roll of honour that includes the Kentucky Derby winners Lil E. Tee (1992), Silver Charm (1997) and I’ll Have Another (2012), alongside Medina Spirit, who was firstpast-the-post in 2021. Multiple champion sire Into Mischief is another graduate.
Yet it would be wrong to think that the prominence of OBS is restricted solely to American shores. Yes it is an American process, whereby the horses are asked to officially perform against the clock, although in OBS’ case over an artificial surface installed to promote safety and consistency. But in line with the evolution of the racing world, its reach is also becoming increasingly international. Last March, for example, OBS graduates pulled off the lucrative Middle Eastern
double of the Saudi and Dubai World Cups courtesy of Emblem Road and Country Grammer. Cafe Pharoah also won a second edition of the February Stakes in Japan, while Lighthouse broke through at the top level in Australia by winning the Coolmore Classic. She later sold for A$1.7 million at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.
However, it is from a European perspective where the growth has taken the largest steps forward. While dirt racing will always drive the American product, recent major investment in the country’s turf programme has also helped fuel interest in grass horses, something that has been highly influential in the growing influx of
American buyers to our recent rounds of yearling sales. As a result, more and more European-breds are being pinhooked with a trip to an American two-year-old sale in mind, whether it be OBS or FasigTipton. And on the other side of the coin, some buyers are now working OBS and Fasig-Tipton with a return trip to race in Europe pencilled in.
Indeed, that strategy worked out beautifully in the case of Onesto, one of the stars of last year’s season who joined Fabrice Chappet’s yard in Chantilly via the OBS Spring Sale. Bred in Ireland by Adam Bowden’s Diamond Creek Farm, the Frankel colt was unsold at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale and shipped to Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables in
Regarded as primarily the domain of North American buyers, the OBS two-year-old sales in Florida hit new international heights last year as the source of top French colt OnestoBRIENSPHOTO.COM/BILL SELWYN
Florida, under whose banner he went on to sell for $535,000 to agent Hubert Guy.
Carrying the colours of Jean-Pierre Dubois, Onesto made a winning debut in September at Chantilly. He broke through in the Prix Greffulhe at SaintCloud the following spring and after running a creditable fifth in the Prix du Jockey-Club from an unfavourable draw, bounced back to land the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp with the subsequent St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov back in fourth. By this time, Gerard AugustinNormand had joined the ownership and Onesto went on to acquit himself well for connections when second, beaten just under a length by Luxembourg, in the Irish Champion Stakes.
“It is very rewarding,” says Tod Wojciechowski, Director of Sales at OBS. “Our graduates have enjoyed success internationally for some time but the number of countries to which that success has spread has definitely increased. We always enjoy seeing our graduates do well but to see them winning the world over only confirms the quality of horses and horsemanship on display at our sales.
“In 2022, OBS graduates won Grade/ Group 1 races in France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and for the first time in Australia.”
Onesto is out of the young Sea The Stars mares Onshore, a member of Juddmonte Farms’ wonderful Hasili
family. As such, he stood out on paper as Hip 1209 when catalogued deep into the Spring Sale in April 2021. Yet paper rarely compensates for an average breeze and it was the Frankel colt’s work on the SafeTrack all-weather surface that prompted Guy to depart the day’s breeze show and run down to Dunne’s barn.
“Onesto is a medium-sized horse with a really great demeanour,” says Guy. “Nothing fazes him. The good horses that I’ve bought have all had that about them.
“He did a good work, he went in 10 flat [for a furlong] but 46 flat for half a mile. So his gallop out was exceptional, especially for a horse that is bred to go a mile and a quarter and further. I think only one other horse, a sprint-bred, went ››
faster that day.
“I went straight down to Ciaran Dunne’s barn to have a look at him. I liked him and so I rang Jean-Etienne Dubois and said there’s a horse here you need to buy. And we put a group together to try and buy him.”
He adds: “The whole idea was to bring him back to Europe – although he was close to staying in the US as the underbidder was Larry Rivelli, a Chicago trainer. He’s a Frankel with that inbreeding to Urban Sea plus his third dam is Kerali, so he’s from one of the best Juddmonte families out there. It’s a family with some stamina in it but he worked like a sprinter and had a very efficient action, and that’s what sold me.
“After the sale, the horse stayed in Florida with Ciaran Dunne and he joined Fabrice Chappet – in fabulous condition – in June. He won first time out in September, so you can see it was a very smooth process.”
Onesto stays in training this year, with the Prix Ganay and Prince of Wales’s Stakes among his early objectives.
Meanwhile, three-year-old Dailymotion, bought for $150,000 in March last year, holds several French Classic entries. Placed on both her starts last season, the Medaglia d’Oro filly broke her maiden at Cagnes-sur-Mer for trainer Jerome Andreu in late January.
“I’m an opportunist,” says Guy. “If I see something that I think might suit Europe there, I’ll ring a few people, see what we can do. Hugo Merry and Jamie McCalmont also buy out there, and they and others have done well looking for something to go to Ascot.
“Dailymotion was still immature at the sale and I was surprised to see her in the programme. She didn’t do an exceptional work, it was acceptable, but I liked her at the barn and she’s very well-bred [out of
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Dayatthespa]. I think she’s a nice filly and, given time, there is more to come.”
Wojciechowski is envisaging further European interest at this year’s sales, not just due to Onesto’s success but also the increasing number of pinhooks catalogued that have been sourced out of Britain and Ireland.
“We have definitely seen an increased European presence over the last few years and anticipate it will continue to trend upward,” he says. “There has been an increase in turf races in the US, particularly sprinting. While dirt is still the dominant surface, 42 per cent of Graded stakes races are run on turf and five per cent on the all-weather.
“Interestingly, because of our allweather surface, we are incorrectly tagged as selling turf-favouring horses. But while OBS graduates perform well in high-level turf races, 65 per cent of the Graded stakes since 2018 that OBS graduates won or were placed in were run on dirt.
“Ultimately, our consignors sell quality horses regardless of surface. Those who have travelled to Europe and purchased yearlings for resale have done well –this is definitely a trend we are seeing and I believe it speaks to the increased participation from European buyers. This increased participation prompts sellers to find horses that will appeal to them.”
The company’s first two-year-old auction of the year, the OBS March Sale, contained a Wootton Bassett filly sourced by Guy and consignor Nick de Meric out of last year’s Arqana August Sale. The larger April Sale is particularly well stocked with European pinhooks, with youngsters by the likes of Cable Bay,
Calyx, Invincible Army, Kingman, Lope De Vega, No Nay Never, Night Of Thunder, Ten Sovereigns, Territories and Too Darn Hot catalogued.
One consignor who has done particularly well pinhooking out of Europe is Niall Brennan. Based in Ocala, the Irishman has had the likes of Gun Runner, Nyquist, Essential Quality and Point Of Entry through his hands to go with last year’s Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting. The Kingman colt Turf King, pinhooked for €100,000 out of
the Goffs Orby Sale, still has a long way to go to join that roll of honour, but he couldn’t have made a better start to his career when successful on his debut at Gulfstream Park for Chad Brown in midFebruary.
“He didn’t sell in the ring but Chad had seen him on the farm, liked him and bought him off me afterwards [for $180,000],” says Brennan. “He was training very well last year at Saratoga but he came up with a little issue and they backed off him. I’m glad he won because we liked him on the farm, we thought he was good.”
Brennan’s draft last year also included
“3,000 horses go through the system so there’s great opportunity”
the Irish-bred Kingman filly Akayla, who sold for $650,000, and the Invincible Spirit filly Rapid Queen, a €100,000 Goffs Orby purchase with Anthony Dutrow who went on to resell for $225,000 to Toshiyuki Fukumori. The filly made a winning debut at Fukushima in Japan last November.
“There is certainly more appetite for the turf horse than there was a few years ago,” says Brennan. “You’re still walking a tightrope in that a few buyers are still looking for strictly dirt horses but some are definitely more open-minded when it comes to turf. And the Japanese buyers will always look at them – the Invincible Spirit filly I had last year has done well for them.”
He adds: “In the past people would buy the older, accomplished horses out of Europe, but recently they’ve turned more to the younger horses. We’ve turned a corner with turf racing, there are more opportunities, especially with the two-year-old programme, and they’re writing more races.
“I had a couple of clients who wanted to look in Europe for some fillies to race. It made sense for us to go over and have a look, and while we were there look at pinhooking horses to breeze if they were to fall in the right price point. You have to factor in the rate of exchange and transport costs, so they’ve got to fall right.
“They’re raised very naturally in Europe – they’re hardy-looking horses in general. We were a little unlucky last year to only get one – a hurricane hit Florida the week we were in Goffs for the Orby Sale and we had a short window of time to get back home, so we had to leave early. But we got a nice Violence filly out of it from Derek Veitch’s [Ringfort Stud] who goes to the Spring Sale. She’s from the family of [Grade 1 winner] Mandaloun so she’s well bred. She’s also very elegant with all the right angles and a good mind. So far we’re very happy with her.”
Onesto isn’t the first successful European runner to have graduated from the American breeze-up system, nor will he be the last. But it would be no surprise to see his achievements result in a renewed appetite from this side of the Atlantic for the product. One thing is for sure, Guy will be out there hunting this spring.
“I tell young people in France to spend time working in Ocala as they’ll see an excellent programme,” he says. “These guys consistently buy quality horses, sometimes those that others have knocked off as yearlings maybe due to conformation or pedigree. I think they’re
the best yearling buyers in the world and the level of horse that comes out of these two-year-old sales proves that.
“You see really, really good horses come out of these sales. There are 3,000 horses that go through the system so there’s a great opportunity to buy a champion – four Kentucky Derby
winners in the past 20-odd years shows that – and I think the fact it’s held on an artificial surface gives the Europeans a little bit of an edge.
“It’s a lot of work, you’re watching all the breezes and then working the barns, but in return there is great opportunity to find a good horse.”
The idea of targeting American breeze-up sales for horses to race in Europe was particularly well executed during the mid-noughties by the buying partnership of Newmarket, Merry and Meehan. The team – aka Richard Galpin, Hugo Merry and Brian Meehan – had early success as the buyers of Prestige Stakes winner Freefourracing, bought for just $47,000 on behalf of David Sullivan’s Roldvale Ltd.
However, they later really struck gold with the purchase of a Pleasant Tap colt for $175,000 at the now defunct Fasig-Tipton Florida Select Sale at Calder in 2004, again for Sullivan. Named David Junior, he went on to win the Champion Stakes, Eclipse Stakes and Dubai Sheema Classic before being resold for presumably a hefty profit to stand in Japan.
As the late Sir Robert Ogden found, the American breeze-up scene was
also a fertile ground for potential Royal Ascot runners. In 2005, his colours were carried to victory in the Albany Stakes by La Chunga, three and a half months after her purchase for $200,000 at that year’s Fasig-Tipton Calder Sale. The More Than Ready filly was sold by Niall Brennan and handled by Jeremy Noseda, as was Ogden’s 2006 Albany heroine, $500,000 Calder purchase Sander Camillo. The daughter of Dixie Union also won that year’s Cherry Hinton Stakes.
Around the same time, trainer Paul Cole successfully plundered Calder, coming away with the Group-placed Elusive Flash, Mata Keranjang and Thunderous Mood.
More recently, Kerri Radcliffe signed at $625,000 for Listed winner Mourinho at OBS and at $300,000 for the War Front filly Safra, who was highly tried during her time with Simon and Ed Crisford in Newmarket.
Words: James Thomas
In the not too distant past Mark Grant would have spent spring looking for rides at the major National Hunt festivals. However, having hung up his boots in April 2021, the search for a different kind of winner has taken his career in a new direction altogether.
Grant is aiming to follow in the footsteps of names such as Norman Williamson, Mark Dwyer and Katie Walsh by transitioning from successful jump jockey to consignor of high-class breezeup horses. Having already unearthed Coventry Stakes hero Bradsell, he has quickly made significant progress in his
new vocation.
That should come as no surprise as he was born into a family steeped in the thoroughbred business. His parents breed out of Hillview Stud in County Tipperary, which is best known for producing National Hunt horses including the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hero Menorah.
Like so many youngsters caught in racing’s gravitational pull, Grant was more focused on the education available on horseback rather than in the classroom.
“I did a lot of eventing and showjumping from when I was very young, I was actually on a couple of pony teams
It’s been a smooth transition from jump jockey to successful breeze-up consignor for Mark Grant, who looks to build on a breakthrough year in 2022 that was highlighted by BradsellBILL SELWYN Mark Grant: ‘The more we did with Bradsell, the more I liked him’ Mark Grant will again be well represented at the major breeze-up sales
for Ireland in eventing, but school was kind of out of the window from a very young age as being a jump jockey was all I ever wanted to do,” he says.
His learning curve continued with a place at Enda Bolger’s academy, where he obtained his amateur licence and cut his teeth riding in point-to-points.
Then came a move to the yard of David Wachman, with whom Grant turned professional. He duly won two Grade 3 novice hurdles aboard Best Mate’s half-brother Inexorable and the Grade 2 Greenmount Park Novice Chase (now the Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase) on Cane Brake.
“I spent seven years with David and he had some smart horses,” says Grant. “I had a great time there and I’d say I’d still be there if he was still training jumpers.
When David got married to John Magnier’s daughter [Katie] they went more on the Flat so that’s when I came to England.”
In 2006 Grant packed his bags and left for Britain. He set about building a book of contacts and several of the early connections he made, the likes of Andy Turnell and Jim Old, sustained him right through to the end of his career in the saddle, a period that he reflects on with fondness.
“It took me about a year to get going in Britain but I had a good time with Andy Turnell and I started to ride for Jim Old a bit too and we had plenty of luck together as well,” he says. “I had a great time as a jockey and was very lucky with injuries. I had a few little issues but I never really got badly broken up. You’d always like to have achieved more but I was very happy with
what I did – and proud of it too.”
Grant’s final ride was aboard the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Count Meribel, who ran in the colours of Old’s long-standing clients Wally Sturt and Charles Walker. Count Meribel also provided another milestone moment in Grant’s career when the pair won the Steel Plate And Sections Novices’ Chase during Cheltenham’s November meeting in 2018. He also pinpoints his association with Jo Hughes’ high-class chaser Soll as another career highlight.
“Count Meribel was great and I used to ride a horse called Soll for Jo Hughes who won a nice race at Sandown,” he says. “He ran in the National and finished seventh. That was great too because if you meet people and they ask what you do and you tell them you were a jockey, the first
thing they ask is if you rode in the Grand National. It was always nice to be able to have a ride in that on your CV.
“Sometimes I miss riding and sometimes I think I’d like to have another go at it but I’m quite happy with what I’m doing now and I get a lot of satisfaction out of that. I was lucky to be able to go on and walk straight into something else.”
Grant took his first steps towards the breeze-ups when he set up a Lambournbased breaking and pre-training business during the twilight of his riding career. This area of his operation is still going strong and counts the likes of Johnny Portman, Eve Johnson Houghton, Roger Teal and Warren Greatrex among its patrons.
He credits his wife Eimear, daughter of Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainer Noel Chance, with influencing the next chapter of his career, which soon progressed to pinhooking yearlings to breeze. He admits it was “very daunting” heading to the yearling sales for the first time but was supported in that initial foray by Adam Spear, who asked Grant to source some breeze-up ammunition on his behalf.
“In the first year I was buying for Adam Spear and his wife Jenny. They bought three yearlings and sent them to me to breeze,” he explains “That meant I was able to dip my toe into the water with someone else’s money. We’ve been friends for a few years and they’ve been very good to me and it was a great help to get a start that way.
“The three horses went to Doncaster and two of them sold and one didn’t, but that was grand. The next year I invested myself, we bought three and they did okay, then the next year we bought six and we’ve been lucky enough to make a profit so we’ve kind of doubled up every year.”
While it may not be a replacement for
After a breakthrough year with Bradsell, Mark Grant has high hopes for his 2023 team of two-year-olds. The operation’s sales season begins at the Tattersalls Craven Sale where they will offer Lot 1, an Invincible Spirit colt out of the Listed-placed Oakley Girl, a daughter of Sir Percy from Meon Valley Stud’s Colorspin family, and a son of the exciting Blue Point (110) out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Lyric Of Light.
“I really like the two of them,” says Grant. “I’ve loved the Blue Point from day one, he’s got a great big action on him and seems to be very quick. He does everything well and has never disappointed me. We haven’t done a lot of galloping with him but in the little we have done he shows plenty. Everyone I’ve spoken to likes the Blue Points too.”
A five-strong consignment is heading for the Goffs UK Sale in Doncaster and Grant highlights the Mehmas filly out of Strawberry Queen (100) and the Aclaim colt out of Avon Breeze (139) as particularly exciting.
“I have a very smart Aclaim colt that we bought at the Premier Sale,” he says. “He’s out of an Avonbridge mare who won ten times and was rated 100 and he’s very quick. He’s kind of doing what
race-riding, Grant says he thrives off the competitive nature of the sales. “There’s a lot of nerves and pressure trying to get the job done but I do enjoy it though,” he says. “It’s not riding but it’s still very competitive.
“Everyone’s waiting for the times to come out. Obviously there aren’t official times done but everyone always sees the time sheets and you want to have
Bradsell did last year, his work is very similar to his. He looks like a Craven horse but he’s so fast that I think the track at Donny is set up for him to do a real good time. I hope he’ll be one of the better ones there. I’ve a nice Mehmas filly going to Donny too, she’s very smart.”
The operation will also be represented in Ireland and France with other lots bound for Arqana and Goresbridge.
“I’ve two nice horses going to France, an Almanzor colt (26) and Starspangledbanner filly (31). It’s a great sale,” he says. “We took two last year and it was the first time I was there. Everyone turns up there and if you have the right article you’ll get well paid for it. Freddy Powell was over to inspect our horses and told me there were 680 horses entered for a sale with 150 spots so I was pleased to get two in.
“I also think I’ve got a smart Sioux Nation colt going to Goresbridge. He’s another who could have been a Craven horse but he’s a May foal and I thought the extra time would do him good. He’s doing everything well. We haven’t galloped him yet but he’s showing us some good signs so I’m looking forward to him.”
the fastest horse because I still have a competitive nature.”
Although Grant’s family patch in Tipperary is close to a host of breeze-up practitioners, including the likes of industry doyen Willie Browne, he is essentially self taught in the art of prepping young juveniles. He did, however, gain a deeper understanding of how to source the right
‘He’s doing what Bradsell did last year’
raw materials ahead of selling his first breezers in 2018.
“Strangely enough a lot of breeze-up consignors are close to my parents’ place at home but I never spent any time with them,” he says. “What I did do was shadow bloodstock agent Matt Coleman for a few of the yearling sales to get an idea of what he was looking for. The rest is kind of self taught and using my own eye when it comes to preparing them. I’m always learning something new and hopefully your eye is getting better all the time.”
Expanding on what he looks for at the yearling sales, he says: “The individual is an important thing, although the way a horse walks always gets me. You’ve got to have a bit of pedigree too and sire power is a big help as that gets people to your door.
The breeze-up sector is no stranger to producing top-class horses, but even by its standards the 2022 season proved to be an exceptional advert, writes Nancy Sexton
With the previous year’s Group 1-winning two-year-olds Native Trail and Perfect Power among those that headed back into battle, it always threatened to be a good year. Yet by the end of it the sector could boast three Classic-winning graduates alongside a pair of Group 1-winning two-year-old fillies.
Native Trail, sold by Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm for 210,000gns to Godolphin at the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Sale, duly justified the early-season hopes of his connections by winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas having run second in the Newmarket equivalent.
Perfect Power, a graduate of Tally-Ho Stud who had been bought by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for £110,000 at the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up, also added to his Group 1 haul by winning the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
in training.
Then there was Highclere Thoroughbred Racing’s Cachet, who progressed from a busy eight-race juvenile season to light up the early part of the year by taking the Nell Gwyn Stakes and 1,000 Guineas for George Boughey. The daughter of Aclaim, who was sold by her breeder John Bourke of Hyde Park Stud to her owners for a relatively inexpensive 60,000gns at the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Sale, is another to stay in training.
“I always find if you’ve got your Invincible Spirit or a Mehmas it’ll take somebody’s eye. Obviously the horse has to do the rest after that and that’s why I go by the individual a lot.”
Luck as well as judgement is required in almost every area of the thoroughbred business and serendipity had a hand to play in Grant’s biggest success story. Bradsell was bought by Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock and Harry Dunlop, with the trainer initially intending to add the 12,000gns son of Tasleet to his 2022 two-year-old team.
Grant takes up the story, saying: “Bradsell was sent to me for breaking by Harry Dunlop and the first day I brought him down to the lunge ring I looked at him and thought, ‘Bloody hell, this horse can go a bit’. I loved him straight away and the more we did with him the more I liked him.
“I called Harry and asked him what his plan was and asked if he had an owner. He didn’t so I tried to buy him off him. He asked what I was going to do with him and I said I was going to breeze him, so he said perhaps he’d stay in and we’d do it together. The horse never left me then and we had half the horse with Harry.
“From day one you could see how fast he was, he was a very quick horse. He was hardy too and had a great constitution and ››
Williamson’s 2021 draft, however, also included the Dubawi colt Eldar Eldarov. Sold for £480,000 to agent Oliver St Lawrence at the Arqana May Sale, staged that year at Doncaster, he showed the benefit of time and distance to capture the St Leger for Roger Varian. He stays
Tally-Ho Stud are rarely far from the action and, having sold Perfect Power in 2021, the O’Callaghan family unearthed another set of juvenile jewels in Lezoo, winner of the Cheveley Park and Princess Margaret Stakes, and The Platinum Queen, who became the first twoyear-old in 44 years to capture the Prix de l’Abbaye. Neither cost the earth; Lezoo was knocked down to Atlas Bloodstock for €110,000 at the Arqana May Sale, while homebred The Platinum Queen was bought for just 57,000gns at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale by Richard Fahey and Middleham Park Racing. Tally-Ho also sold the Beresford Stakes winner Crypto Force.
Sakheer, a product of Willie Browne’s Mocklershill academy, also looked Group 1 material when romping home in the Mill Reef Stakes, as did Bradsell with his powerful winning performance in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“You’ve got to have a bit of pedigree and sire power is a big help”Lezoo: another Group 1 advertisement for the sector
We asked several breeze-up consignors for their thoughts on the first-crop sires whose progeny are showing the right signs at home
“It’s such a competitive year. So many top horses went to stud and they’ve all got the credentials to do well.
“I have two by Advertise, a colt and a filly. Both are very nice to work with, lovely, relaxed horses but when you want them to go, they go. I wish I had a yard full of them! I also have two Soldier’s Call colts that I like. They’re lovely horses, they’re quick and won’t take long.
“I also have a fast one by Inns Of Court and two lovely Land Force fillies. They’re mature types with good minds. Then there is a very nice Blue Point filly. She’s a sister to [Group 1-placed] Forever In Dreams and I’ve sent the mare back to Blue Point on the strength of this filly.
“I also have a smashing Ten Sovereigns colt, he’s tall and wellbalanced, and he goes really well. And of the Americans, we have a big, strong colt
a good mind.”
Grant sent Bradsell to the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, where he was bought by Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock, chief talent scout to the Archie Watson stable, for £47,000.
“He breezed well; he was fast and galloped out through the line really well,” says Grant. “He was very busy at the sale and had a lot of vets but he had a little issue with x-rays. He would have been a six-figure horse only for that. He was only a 12,000gns yearling so Harry didn’t get him x-rayed and I took half from Harry once he’d come to me, so I never got him x-rayed either. He was a very fast horse and probably should have made a lot more money but it’s just one of those things.”
Exactly one month after the Doncaster breeze-up, Bradsell reappeared at York and put up one of the most impressive debut performances of the season when romping home nine lengths clear. After that it was on to Royal Ascot, where he again showed his blistering speed and irresistible turn of foot to claim the Coventry Stakes by a length and a half from Persian Force, with subsequent champion two-yearold Blackbeard back in fourth. Any disappointment over Bradsell’s breeze-up price had quickly been extinguished.
“It was great to see the way he won at York the first day and then the Coventry was just amazing,” says Grant. “It was
by Audible. He goes very well, especially for a late foal.” Con Marnane, Bansha House Stables
“I have a couple by Ten Sovereigns and I’m very happy with them. They’re very nice horses. I also think Calyx has a chance – I have three of them and they can go a bit. I also have a couple of Blue Points that I like. One of them is particularly sharp but they all seem to go well.” Willie Browne, Mocklershill
“I have a few Blue Points, two for the Craven and a sharp one for Doncaster, and they all go well. They’re nice horses, easy to work with, and at the moment I like the stallion a lot. I also have a Ten Sovereigns that I like a lot from what I’ve seen so far and an Advertise that goes ok.” Johnny Collins, Brown Island Stables
“We have a few by Mitole that look fast. I have a Vino Rosso that I really like and also an Omaha Beach. One dark horse could be Demarchelier. He’s a very
brilliant. You dream about having a horse good enough to win a two-year-old race, never mind the Coventry. We haven’t been at it that long so hopefully it should stand to us in the future. There’s been people at it for a long time that haven’t been lucky enough to have one as good, so we’re very lucky to have had him.”
Bradsell heads a growing roll of honour and is not the only above-average graduate that Grant has produced, as Majestic Glory came through his system before going on to win the Sweet Solera Stakes. While Sarsons Risk may not have read the script of the typical breezeup horse, he won two middle-distance handicaps before looking a potentially smart hurdler for rookie trainer Ben Brookhouse, who is already talking the son of Caravaggio up as a potential Champion Hurdle contender.
Moreover, Sarsons Risk is not the only winning jumper that Grant is responsible for as he also dabbles in the National Hunt side of the business. He has sold the likes of maiden hurdle scorer Maid Of The Night, who was prepped to win a point-to-point bumper before being sold to Henry Daly, and dual bumper winner Spirits Bay, who was offered on behalf of his brother-in-law, Richard Johnson.
“The point-to-pointers started with my parents basically and if they had one they didn’t sell as a foal they might send it over
well-bred son of Dubawi and was very talented – I know Chad Brown loved him. He’s also been well supported by Peter Brant and Claiborne Farm. I like the ones I’ve got and I wouldn’t be surprised if they could run a bit. I also have a filly by Catholic Boy that goes really well. She’s more in the mould of Catholic Boy’s sire, More Than Ready, and I’m looking forward to sending her to the OBS April Sale.”
Niall Brennanto me as a three-year-old,” he says. “I’ve had a couple of theirs and then last year I went and bought a three-year-old at the Land Rover by Jukebox Jury. He’s now four and is going to run at Maisemore in a few weeks’ time. I enjoy having a couple of jumpers because of my roots and it’s nice to keep my hand in. The breeze-up game is our main focus though.”
With the sales only a matter of weeks away, that focus is set to intensify. But with a proven system in place, a burgeoning track record to build on and an exciting intake of equine talent, Grant has plenty to look forward to – even if these days aren’t without their nervy moments.
“I’ve got a good team of staff who do a great job and we haven’t had any issues or hiccups,” he says of his team’s 2023 prep. “The weather hasn’t helped us because we had a lot of frost over Christmas and into January but other than that we’ve had a pretty clean run, thank God.
“We’ve got a good routine and everything runs well but you do get a bit nervous the closer you get. All it takes is stepping on a stone or getting a little cut and it can set you back. These things happen when you’re dealing with thoroughbreds at the end of the day. When you have to buy them, get them back to the sales in one piece and make a profit, it’s definitely hard work, but when it works out it’s great.”
‘At the moment I like the stallion a lot’GEORGE SELWYN
If you have nominated your yearlings with the major sale companies, there will likely still be decisions to make in terms of which sale to choose, and which consignor can best sell for you.
With ofces and farms in Newmarket and Ireland, The Castlebridge Consignment has been Europe’s leading sales consignor over the past twenty years and we would like to discuss with you the yearlings, foals and mares that you may be selling in 2023.
Castlebridge have sold nine individual Gr.1 winners including such Champions as Luxembourg, Night of Thunder and Ghaiyyath together with a host of other Group and individual winners, so not surprisingly our buyers keep returning to the source of their success.
The experienced team of Andrew Mead, Bill Dwan, and Patrick Diamond are available for farm visits to inspect potential sale candidates at your stud, and give you their assessment based on confrmation, action and pedigree, as to which sale your horse can be best placed. Why not take the opportunity to talk to the Sales Consignor with the best track record in the business?
To see a full list of our best auction sale results and racecourse graduates, go to www.castlebridgesales.com
Owners who secure sponsorship for their racing activities may be able to register for VAT, enabling them to reclaim VAT on racing expenses and on the purchase price of their racehorse. The Racehorse Owners Association runs the Tote Owner Sponsorship Scheme which members can access to secure sponsorship.
For more information on how the scheme works visit www.roa.co.uk/sponsorship Need more help on your VAT? Our ROA VAT Solution team are here to help.
After the best part of four decades, the renowned National Stud Diploma Course has undergone an overhaul.
The diploma course has stood the test of time, offering numerous students valuable groundwork and insight into working with thoroughbreds. More recently, it has been complemented by the launch of the Entry to Stud Employment Programme (E2SE), a nine-week residential course fully funded by the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and Racing Foundation that is open to applicants with little or no experience in working with horses with the prospect of a work placement following its completion.
Times change, however, and in the National’s new Level 3 course, which covers Stud Management and Sales Consignment, hopes run high that the stud’s training arm is on a sounder footing to help address the staffing problems plaguing the industry.
Set to be launched in midSeptember, the new course runs for 26 weeks through to April, thereby running along the same lines as an academic year. It aims to cover as much of the breeding industry as possible, starting with a term where the emphasis is on sales preparation. To that end, trainees will have the chance to take up paid placements with consignors for the Tattersalls October and December Sales.
The second term coincides with the first few months of the breeding season, running from early January to April to allow trainees to gain practical experience with mares and foals, in particular foaling and the workings of the covering shed. They will also have the chance to spend time in the stud and nominations office and on veterinary rounds while taking advantage of the stud’s comprehensive lecture programme.
In the process, successful graduates will gain a 1st 4Sport Level 3 Certificate in Thoroughbred Stud Practice and a 1st 4Sport Level 3 Award in the Principles of Transporting Horses by Road on Short Journey, as well as Emergency First
Aid at Work and Manual Handling certificates.
The stud’s education programme for 2023 also hosts a Level 2 Diploma course, the second intake of which starts in October. Completion of the eight-week course leads to a 1st4Sport Level 2 Diploma in Work Based Racehorse Care (Breeding Option) and is followed by a six-tonine month paid placement within the stud industry.
The National Stud has long been at the coalface when it comes to placing staff within the industry, and thankfully so. However, the restructure of its education programme hopefully alleviates the issues that hung over the previous educational calendar. For instance, the new start date of September should fall easily in with school leavers and graduates. Then by training students in sales preparation and allowing them to work the sales, they not only have the opportunity to earn while learning but also leave with the experience to head into a work placement at a time of the year when the focus is often on yearling prep.
“It’s about being more flexible,” says National Stud Chief Executive
Officer Anna Kerr. “It’s important that we keep that pipeline of qualified workers coming through. The Diploma programme was set up in the mid1980s and more recently the E2SE has been very successful. But there’s been a clear trend since Covid that more flexibility is required.
“We were getting feedback from some of the graduates that they wanted to be out there earning more quickly and, with an eight-week programme that the Level 2 course offers, they get into paid employment that bit sooner.”
The Level 2 course is primed to provide an ongoing resource into the workforce. The new Stud Management and Sales Consignment course, as an elevated diploma, naturally takes matters further with the idea of producing graduates with the capability to work efficiently in all areas of the industry.
“For some of the existing diploma graduates, it was a case of going straight into employment during the summer when the focus is on sales prep,” says Kerr. “We can give them some experience with yearlings at the National Stud, but a sales prep environment is going to be different and so that might be an area where they might not have much experience. The Level 3 course gives them that.
“Then there was the question of how do we get them into the workplace and earning while learning at the same time. So that’s where the plan to have them do a two-week placement with a consignor at the yearling sales and then again at the December Sales comes in.”
Speak to anyone involved in horseracing, whether it be trainers or stud owners, and the key issue is staff, specifically recruiting people into an industry where work is viewed more as a way of life, and then retaining them. The National Stud, with education and training as one of its key strategic pillars, has been a firm friend in that regard for many years. Such ambition behind its recent educational overhaul, however, offers further cause for optimism over the future.
Being beaten in your first point-to-point is no bar to long-term success, as witnessed by Constitution Hill.
That brilliant horse, who in April two years ago finished second at a meeting in Tipperary, recently extended his winning sequence when romping home in the Champion Hurdle. Whether Jersey Des Brosses will achieve half as much is unknown, but after a narrow debut defeat at Oldtown in County Dublin, he was sent to this sale by trainer Colin Bowe and duly topped trade when selling for £370,000. The buyer was Gordon Elliott while the vendor was Sluggara Farm’s Walter Connors, who secured the son of No Risk At All on a foal-buying trip to France in 2019.
Connors rears stock at his County Waterford home before dividing them as three-year-olds and sending a third each to Goffs Land Rover Sale and Tattersalls Ireland’s Derby Sale, with the remainder joining Bowe. It was a good omen for Jersey Des Brosses that the previous occasion on which his owner had visited a Cheltenham auction was to see another of his Bowe-trained point-topointers walk through the ring, and that was Envoi Allen, now a triple Grade 1 winner at the Cheltenham Festival.
Elliott could not reveal whose colours will in future be carried by Jersey Des Brosses, but the horse who beat him at Oldtown, the Rob James-trained Jingko Blue, will run for park home entrepreneur Tony Barney after he was knocked down for £225,000 to agent Jerry McGrath. Nicky Henderson will train the son of Great Pretender, who had been bought as a store by James for €48,000.
Other Irish pointers who made an impact included Mt Fugi Park, a most impressive-looking son of Walk In The
Mt
formed part of an excellent sale for his sire Walk In
Park who would not have been overshadowed had he stood in the lee of Mount Fuji. Unsurprisingly he did not race at four, with trainer Donnchadh Doyle commenting: “He wasn’t that big when we bought him [as a store for
Held amid the vibrancy of another momentous Cheltenham Festival, this sale saw 20 young point-to-pointers change hands and 14 reach a six-figure valuation.
Two four-year-old geldings realised £420,000 apiece, a new mark for the event and one which helped lift the average price to a new record figure of £172,500. Turnover of £3,450,000 was also a best-achieved at the sale during its relatively short history, while the median reached £145,000.
Heady business for Tattersalls Cheltenham, and also for Monbeg Stables’s Doyle brothers. Donnchadh sold the top two lots – both to Gordon Elliott – while Sean chipped in with the third, but there are nine Doyle siblings, and no doubt Eamon, Cormac and Gearoid (among others) had a role to play in turning stores into successful pointers and then sales horses.
Donnchadh’s double came in the form of two horses who had won on debut in point-to-points held just four days before their ring appearance. Both Romeo Coolio, a son of Kayf Tara who had won a maiden point-to-point in Galway, and Jalon D’Oudairies, an AQPS-bred son of No Risk At All who scored in County Wexford, had just passed their fourth birthday, and it is to their credit that they coped with training, racing and a journey
€65,000], but he just grew.”
Numerous agents took a shine to the son of Walk In The Park, but Matt Coleman, working alongside Jonjo O’Neill, had the final word at £290,000, while a paternal half-brother named
Leader In The Park, who had been trained by Sean Doyle to win at Tallow on debut, was sold for £250,000. Highflyer Bloodstock’s Tessa Greatrex, acting for Ben Pauling, made the definitive bid, while the resurgent Wiltshire trainer Milton Bradley left with a valuable asset in the form of Walks Like The Man, yet another son of the veteran Coolmore sire Walk In The Park.
Brought down when making his debut for Bowe, he subsequently scored on the same Oldtown card as Jingko Blue, a performance which resulted in the hammer falling in Harris’s direction at £225,000.
This was a bigger-than-normal February Sale catalogue, but that helped push turnover to a new high of just under £4.3 million. Also up and reaching lofty new marks were the average of £107,450 and median of £77,500. A total of 52 lots walked the ring, 15 more than in 2022, and 40 found buyers, including 15 who sold for a six-figure sum.
The thirst for success at jump racing’s festival meetings appears unchecked.
to Cheltenham where they breezed through a host of pre-sale inspections.
Romeo Coolio, a €92,000 store purchase, was knocked down to Elliott’s right-hand man Mouse O’Ryan who was acting for a partnership named KTDA Racing involving Daves Page and Rabson from West Sussex. Jalon D’Oudairies was bought for an undisclosed client of Elliott’s Cullentra House having been offered by a partnership involving Donnchadh and Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables.
Collins thought he had sold Jalon D’Oudairies to Willie Mullins for €75,000 at last year’s Land Rover Sale, but the
horse had a minor niggle and the vendor promised to ‘stand over’ his lot for a fortnight should the issue not clear up. It failed to do so, with the result that Collins took the horse back, put him into training with Doyle, and came out of what looked a sticky situation in a far happier position.
It is not essential for a horse to win a point-to-point in order to sell for good money or become a superstar of the track, and racehorse owner Max McNeill is hoping Quebecois, whom he bought from Sean Doyle for £320,000, follows that dictum. The son of No Risk At All –an €88,000 store purchase – finished second at a meeting in Waterford two
Fugi Park: The Parkone of the best rewarded Northern Ireland’s Warren Ewing, who buys “about ten” foal stores each year. His purchase of a £9,000 Jack Hobbs foal later named Intense Approach looked very shrewd after the gelding made a winning debut in County Armagh, and even better after he had been sold to trainer John McConnell for £210,000.
Three British pointers joined the parade and all made a paper profit, headed by Touch Me Not, a £30,000 store who looked set to hack up at a meeting in Yorkshire for Tom Ellis only to fall at the last. Gordon Elliott was prepared to forgive the error, and his bid of £150,000 secured another member of his burgeoning string.
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weeks before the sale when beaten by Queensbury Boy, a fellow four-year-old newcomer. The winner, a son of Doyen, also took his turn in the ring but was judged not as valuable as his vanquished rival when knocked down to Jerry McGrath for £130,000.
Denis Murphy, who trained Queensbury Boy, also sold the top filly,
another foal by Doyen in the form of Break My Soul, who beat geldings when making a successful pointing debut in County Wicklow. Beating the boys formed part of her appeal to Bath trainer Neil Mulholland, whose bid of £290,000 on behalf of client Oli Harris secured her future.
On an evening of profitable pinhooks,
• Willie Mullins and bloodstock advisor Harold Kirk were interested observers at Tattersalls Cheltenham’s Festival Sale, but they did not invest.
Once notable purchasers at the home of jump racing, Mullins and Kirk have bought just one horse at three Cheltenham sales to have taken place this year. In January they picked up the mare Femme Magnifique for £95,000, a relatively small sum at auctions of this type. Meanwhile, Gordon Elliott and his clients have bought seven horses at
the same trio of auctions while spending just under £2m. It can hardly be said Mullins is taking his foot off the gas following a string of big-race successes this season, not to mention top-trainer honours once again at the Cheltenham Festival. Could it be that the maestro has a new buying policy? He has certainly achieved considerable success with French-bred horses, but even though eight of the 25 lots who walked the ring at the Festival Sale were bred in France and had shown a level of form that justified their place in this select auction, Mullins did not buy.
STALLIONS, RACING CLUB, TRAINING AND SPELLING
l Winner of Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains.
l Already the Sire of Black-Type winners under Both Codes including Cheltenham Festival entrants TAHMURAS and HITMAN
l Stock in 2022 made 110,000gns, £67,000, etc.
Fee: £2,000
l Group Winner over 10/12f, incl. Canadian International.
l Oldest Crop just turned 5.
l Sire of Winners under Both Codes.
Fee: £1,000
l Unbeaten Group 1 winning 2yo.
l Classic Winner & Champion Stayer in Europe at 3.
l Already a Sire of Winners under Both Codes.
l Already the sire of Group 2 Hurdle winner NO LOOKING BACK , IRISH HILL and recent 4yo Irish Point-to-Point winner’s BUTCHER HOLLOW and BEN SOLO
Fee: £2,000
l Consistent Group Level Performer over 12f, incl. beaten a short head in the 2006 Derby.
l Sire of Winners under Both Codes.
l Top class pedigree, looks, confirmation and temperament.
Fee: £1,500
For further details contact; Chris Dawson: Gypsy Lane, Ferryhill, Co. Durham, DL17 0LG www.nunstaintonstud.com • Facebook: Nunstainton Stud • Tel: 07796 530084
The ongoing debate about speed and stamina in thoroughbred racing is always an interesting one. The perceived diminution in the value of staying bloodlines at the expense of speed has led many to speculate that we could follow the same road as Australia, where its speed horses are of a far higher quality than its 2,000 metre-plus horses. And while that fear may or may not be true, it is essential to acknowledge that we are living in different times, where the stallion ownership model has changed, bringing ever-increasing specialisation into the equation.
In truth, both speed and stamina are essential for a thriving balanced breeding industry. But today there are successful business models that rely solely on stallions that can get plenty of early two-year-old winners with hopefully a bit of class later in the year. This is why the annual first-season sires’ race has become compelling for some.
Last year, the battle for the most two-year-old winners was a close-fought affair between Coolmore’s Sioux Nation and an unexpected star of the show in Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Havana Grey, who led for most of the season only to fail by a single winner – 44 to 43 – to his Irish rival. That said, Havana Grey did win the stakes winner battle by five to three and the Group winner battle by three to two.
Both sires were rewarded with substantial fee increases for 2023, Havana Grey from £6,000 to £18,500 and Sioux Nation from €10,000 to €17,500. They now occupy second and third place among all freshman sires by individual winners behind Mehmas’s staggering tally of 56 during that surreal 2020 season.
The stallions with their first runners this year are indeed an exciting bunch. There are plenty of fast, early types with the ammunition to get plenty of winners, but it remains to be seen if any stand the test of time.
Our accompanying list by winners is just as remarkable for the number of sires that failed to achieve any longevity. The early favourites to sire the most individual winners in 2023 are Ten Sovereigns, Coolmore’s Middle Park Stakes and July Cup winner, and Shamardal’s top-class sprinting son Blue Point, who possesses a fine blend of quantity and quality among his offspring.
It was Ten Sovereigns that set No Nay Never’s stallion career alight when he put together an unbeaten juvenile season, culminating with a decisive victory in the Middle Park Stakes. Though his form was in and out at three, once it was established that he was not a miler in the 2,000 Guineas, Ten Sovereigns gave us a glimpse of what he was really capable of in the July Cup, which he won by an authoritative two-and-three-quarter lengths from fellow first-season sire Advertise. It was a performance good enough to see him ranked as Europe’s best three-year-old sprinter.
While Ten Sovereigns looks sure to surpass his sire’s tally of 32 first-crop winners, he’ll do very well to match No Nay Never’s 14 stakes horses or six stakes winners. No Nay Never is also represented by Land Force, Highclere Stud’s Richmond winner from an outstanding family of Classic hopeful Auguste Rodin. With his number of foals, he has every prospect of
being the leading British-based firstseason sire by winners this year.
Blue Point is an interesting contender in that he didn’t reach his best until four and five. His progression looks like this: Timeform rated 118 at two, 124 at three, 129 at four, and 131 at five.
Given that he has an all-speed female line which has Royal Applause, Ballad Rock and Windjammer as sires of his first three dams, it will be interesting to see if this speed heritage plays out in his own runners. We can take some comfort from the fact that Blue Point is a son of Shamardal, who has already supplied the top-class sire Lope De Vega, a stallion who incidentally has a noticeable propensity towards two-year-old speed and class given he himself was a Prix du Jockey-Club winner.
Shamardal was not bad either at producing top-class juveniles. Pinatubo, Earthlight, Victor Ludorum, Lumiere and Casamento feature among his cast of 20 two-year-old Pattern winners. Judging by Blue Point’s yearling average of £98,000, second only to Too Darn Hot among this group, there is perhaps an expectation that Blue Point should be much more than a sire of early winners.
In the betting for the most winners, Ten Sovereigns and Blue Point are followed by Tally-Ho Stud’s Inns Of Court. One of three sons of Invincible Spirit with their first runners in 2023, Inns Of Court is a serious challenger for no more reason than he’s from the stallion farm that provided us with Mehmas (56 winners) and Cotai Glory (35 winners) in recent seasons. That and the fact he has had more live foals than any stallion in 2021 should make him competitive in the race for most individual winners. It’s also arguable that his female line contains more class than either of the two ahead of him in the betting. But, realistically, winning youngsters will be his game this season.
Soldier’s Call is another with enough quality and quantity to sire some nice two-year-olds this year. One of two sons of Showcasing with their first runners in
2023, the good-looking Ballyhane Stud sire was all about speed in its purest sense. As a winner of the five-furlong Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, he is eminently well qualified to get early types that could themselves turn up at the Royal meeting this year.
Solder’s Call emulated his fourth dam Abeer by winning the Flying Childers and was also rated France’s top two-year-old following a victory in the Prix d’Arenberg and a third in the all-aged Prix de l’Abbaye.
The other son of Showcasing, Advertise, was a better two-year-old and a better racehorse overall than Soldier’s Call, as his Group 1 double in the Phoenix Stakes and Commonwealth Cup would suggest. And though he is available at longer odds than Soldier’s Call, ostensibly because he has fewer two-year-olds on the ground, there is more quality among the Advertise juveniles, which is also suggested by his first-crop yearling average of £64,000, twice that of his paternal half-brother.
Then we come to a prospect that in all likelihood will not sire the most winners, but, given his opportunities, is perhaps the most likely to endure in the long term. In Too Darn Hot, we have a royally-bred son of Dubawi with all the credentials in place to make a top-class sire. We know his race record; he was a very high-class two-yearold who trained on to land the Sussex Stakes. And we know about his pedigree;
his first two dams, Dar Re Mi (Timeform 124) and Darara (Timeform 129), were not only Group 1 winners but also top-class producers from the immediate family of the very good sire Darshaan. Moreover, Too Darn Hot is perhaps the speediest member of the family, so he promises to impart a potent blend of class, speed and precocity, backed up with a Classic middle-distance heritage, to his progeny.
To top it all off, the Dalham Hall Stud-based son of Dubawi was entrusted with the finest mares of this whole group. We can get a very clear idea of the quality of his first mares by his yearling average of £118,000, and this is backed up by the number of high-class mares he covered compared to his fellow freshman. His tally of 105 far outstrips that of Ten Sovereigns (24), Inns Of Court (8), Soldier’s Call (9) and Advertise (24). Only Blue Point with 84 gets close to Too Darn Hot’s tally.
There are others, such as Calyx, in the race for most winners at much longer odds, but, make no mistake, any of them are capable of siring a nice two-year-old. Others at bigger odds have the potential to be successful sires over the longer term. Classic winners Masar, Study Of Man, Magna Grecia and Phoenix Of Spain are augmented by Arc hero Waldgeist, the highest-rated of the entire group. It will be midway through 2024 and beyond before we can properly evaluate this group of stallions. In the meantime, an exciting year beckons.
“There are plenty of fast types with the ammunition to get plenty of winners”
Since Aidan O’Brien sent out his first Group 1 winner for the Coolmore partners in 1996, both he and his employers have tried desperately to persuade the breeding world – and perhaps themselves – that outstanding European turf horses can compete with top American dirt performers. The hugely prestigious Breeders’ Cup Classic has been the main target of their ambitions.
And why not? Prior to O’Briens’s appointment, we had seen Andre Fabre land the 1993 Classic with Arcangues, and there had also been honourable efforts by Paul Cole’s British-bred Ibn Bey (a length second to Unbridled in 1990) and by Fabre’s Classic-winning filly Jolypha (third behind A.P. Indy and Pleasant Tap in 1992). The 1998 Classic also saw a fine effort by a European horse, when Saeed bin Suroor’s Swain finished a close third behind Awesome Again and Silver Charm after swerving sharply across the track under a vigorous Frankie Dettori ride.
O’Brien’s first attempt at winning the Classic in 2000 also featured a highly honourable defeat, when Giant’s Causeway failed by only a neck to prevent Tiznow gaining the first of his two victories in the race. There have since been other bold efforts by O’Brien trainees, such as Henrythenavigator’s second to fellow European raider Raven’s Pass in an all-weather edition of the Classic in 2008 and Declaration Of War’s close third behind Mucho Macho Man in 2013. However, there have also been unplaced efforts by horses of the calibre of Hawk Wing, Hold That Tiger, Oratorio, Duke Of Marmalade and So You Think.
Arguably the biggest disappointments, though, have come when the Coolmore team have tried to prove that the Sadler’s Wells male line has a future on dirt. Galileo finished out of the first two for the only time in his career when sixth of 13, beaten nearly eight lengths by Tiznow, in 2001. Since then we’ve seen his sons Rip Van Winkle, Gleneagles and Churchill all finish towards the rear in the Classic, all beaten by at least 17 lengths in their disappointing ventures off turf.
This might seem a little strange in view of the fact that Sadler’s Wells was bred in America and that Galileo’s broodmare sire, the Mr Prospector horse Miswaki, had racked up two wins and three seconds
from six starts on dirt after his transfer from France. Coincidentally, Miswaki’s achievements as a stallion included siring the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Black Tie Affair.
Gleneagles and Churchill could also have been expected to do better than they did on Breeders’ Cup day, as both are out of mares by Storm Cat. This grandson of Northern Dancer was responsible for as many as five winners of Breeders’ Cup races on dirt, including the 1999 Classic winner Cat Thief, and he also went close to landing the Classic with Giant’s Causeway, a brother to Gleneagles’ dam You’resothrilling.
Storm Cat still ranks among the most prolific sires of Breeders’ Cup winners, on a list headed by Tapit, Into Mischief and More Than Ready, who have each sired seven. Galileo has made ample amends for his own failure on Breeders’ Cup day, siring a total of six winners, eight seconds and five thirds, but his six winners – Red Rocks, Magician, Found, Highland Reel, Line Of Duty and Tuesday – were all successful on turf.
Galileo’s sire Sadler’s Wells was also responsible for the winners of six Breeders’ Cup races on turf, his scorers being In The Wings, Barathea, Northern Spur, the dual winner High Chaparral and Islington.
That was by no means the full extent of the North American success enjoyed by Sadler’s Wells’ progeny, which extended to at least 30 Graded/Listed winners. Among them were a further
eight Grade 1 winners, in the shape of Beat Hollow (Turf Classic, Manhattan Handicap and Arlington Million), French Glory (Rothman’s International), Insight (E.P. Taylor Stakes), Subtle Power (Gulfstream Park Handicap), Ballingarry (Canadian International), Sligo Bay (Hollywood Turf Cup), Perfect Soul (Shadwell Keeneland Turf Mile) and Powerscourt (Arlington Million). There wasn’t a dirt horse among these 30 blacktype winners.
This might seem a very lopsided record for an American-bred horse like Sadler’s Wells. Both of his parents, Northern Dancer and Fairy Bridge, were also bred in North America, and all four of his grandparents – Nearctic, Natalma, Bold Reason and Special – were foaled there. However, Nearctic was imported in utero from Europe, as might be guessed from the fact that he was sired by Nearco from Hyperion’s daughter Lady Angela. This means that the top quarter of Sadler’s Wells’s pedigree was European. The other three-quarters also contains several other imported horses, including the brilliant Argentinean horse Forli, who was of European descent; the Derby winner Mahmoud; the Irish-bred Turn-To, who was to sire Hail To Reason; the Eclipse and Champion Stakes winner Djeddah; and the exceptional broodmare Rough Shod, who was a 3,500gns buy at the 1951 Newmarket December Sales.
The perception that most American racehorses of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s were purely dirt performers is understandable but not totally accurate. For example, Nearctic won at least once on turf and Northern Dancer was successful in the Summer Stakes over a mile on soft turf on his third start at two.
Sadler’s Wells’ broodmare sire Bold Reason was proficient enough on dirt to finish third in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes but he also ventured onto turf several times, with the 9.5-furlong Lexington Handicap and the nine-furlong American Derby among his victories. His Claiborne-bred daughter Fairy Bridge carried Robert Sangster’s colours with distinction during a very brief career which saw her earn a Timeform rating of 115 after winning over five and six furlongs at Phoenix Park. Fairy Bridge’s broodmare sire, Forli,
divided his time between dirt and turf.
Of course, pedigree alone doesn’t determine a horse’s natural aptitudes. Size, conformation and action also play their part – not to mention their owners’ and trainers’ preconceptions – and the perception has largely been that Sadler’s Wells’s sons and grandsons have nearly all been turf specialists (but, very importantly, not all).
Among Galileo’s sons given their chance as stallions in the US were his Irish Derby winners Cape Blanco and Treasure Beach, his Breeders’ Cup Turf winners Magician and Red Rocks, and Frankel’s highly accomplished brother Noble Mission. However, according to the Blood-Horse stallion register, there are currently no stallion sons of Galileo in Kentucky.
Noble Mission fared best of the Galileo sons, before his sale to Japan, and he at least proved that a son of Galileo could sire a top dirt performer, thanks to the exploits of Code Of Honor. This Lane’s End homebred won both the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, in addition to performing well in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Unfortunately, he had to be euthanised in December 2022, snuffing out hopes that he could maintain the Galileo sire line at Lane’s End. He had covered 92 mares earlier in the year in his first season.
Of course, Frankel has enjoyed plenty of recent success in North America with his accomplished daughters McKulick, Wild Beauty, With The Moonlight, Skims and Elizabeth Way, but their wins have been on turf, as have those of Nations Pride, a son of the similarly-bred Teofilo.
Several of Sadler’s Wells’s Grade 1 winners had also been given their chance as stallions in the States, including Northern Spur, Powerscourt, Perfect Soul, Sligo Bay and the 2,000 Guineas winner King Of Kings. A few of them sired the occasional good winner and Perfect Soul broke the trend by siring the Grade 1 dirt winner Seeking The Soul. But the role of saviour of this male line in North America very much belongs to Sadler’s Wells’s son El Prado.
Bred at Vincent O’Brien’s Lyonstown Stud, El Prado was trained by the maestro to win four of his five starts in Ireland as a juvenile, including the Group 1 National Stakes and Group 2 Beresford Stakes, in the process sharing the title of champion Irish two-year-old. El Prado was the son of two Irish Guineas winners in Sadler’s Wells and Lady Capulet but unfortunately missed his own chance of a Guineas
success when a sprained joint put him on the sidelines in the spring and he failed to reproduce his best form on his return to action. This disappointing three-year-old career no doubt contributed to the fact that he was priced at the comparatively modest fee of $7,500 when he retired to Airdrie Stud in Kentucky at the end of 1992 (he was later moved to Adena Springs).
No doubt one of the reasons why American breeders were interested in El Prado was the fact that his dam Lady Capulet was a three-parts-sister to Drone. Unbeaten during an abbreviated fourrace career, Drone showed enough potential to join the celebrated roster at Claiborne Farm, where he sired half a dozen Grade 1 winners (the one turf performer among them being the King’s Stand Stakes winner Sayf El Arab). Drone went on to become the broodmare sire of such stars as Dancing Brave and Princess
2002 and 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Bearing in mind that Medaglia d’Oro’s progeny are credited with earning the equivalent of roughly $100 million on turf, he certainly can’t be pigeon-holed as a dirt stallion. After all, he has sired a Breeders’ Cup Turf winner in Talismanic, a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner in New Money Honey, an Australian champion in Vancouver and a Hong Kong superstar in Golden Sixty. However, he also has two stallion sons, Violence and Bolt d’Oro, who rank among the stallions currently represented by leading Kentucky Derby contenders.
Violence’s son Forte confirmed his standing as many people’s idea of the likely winner on May 6 when he added the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes to his trio of juvenile Grade 1 successes, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Raise Cain, another of Violence’s threeyear-old colts, also earned Kentucky Derby points with his victory in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes. Bolt d’Oro, for his part, has a first crop which includes Instant Coffee, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at two and Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at three.
Rooney and the Kentucky Derby winners Charismatic and Grindstone.
El Prado’s fee dropped as low as $5,000 in his fifth season in 1997 but his inexpensively-produced progeny began to do so well that his fee soon rose to $30,000. By 2002 he had taken the title of champion sire, pushing his fee up to $75,000, then $100,000 and by 2006 his services were priced at $125,000. His championship was all the more meritorious because it was gained largely with crops of modest size.
One of the mares who visited El Prado in 1998, when his fee was still as low as $10,000, was Cappucino Bay, a minor stakes winner who had gained four of her five wins on turf. The resultant foal, Medaglia d’Oro, played a major part in El Prado’s transition from rags to riches. Oddly enough, Medaglia d’Oro was never asked by Bobby Frankel to tackle turf, but why would he need to try Medaglia d’Oro on turf when he was earning millions of dollars on dirt?
Among the colt’s most rewarding efforts were his victory in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and his seconds in the
It is worth mentioning that Violence and Bolt d’Oro both showed plenty of the juvenile talent which had been the hallmark of El Prado’s career. Violence was unbeaten in three juvenile starts, notably taking the Grade 2 Nashua Stakes and Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, while Bolt d’Oro won three of his four juvenile starts, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes. However, Violence’s career ended in the February of his second season and Bolt d’Oro lost his form after he had won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and finished second to Justify in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
No discussion of El Prado’s career would be complete without mentioning Kitten’s Joy, a champion turf horse who emulated his sire by becoming North America’s champion sire in 2013.
Although much of his progeny’s success came on the turf, Kitten’s Joy appears to have left a valuable legacy. The much-missed Roaring Lion was responsible for the Criterium de SaintCloud winner Dubai Mile in his only crop, while Bobby’s Kitten has given us that fine filly Sandrine. Over in the US, there has been a promising start by Oscar Performance, who became one of Kitten’s Joy’s four Breeders’ Cup winners on turf when he landed the 2016 Juvenile Turf. Interestingly, Oscar Performance’s second Graded winner, Red Carpet Ready, has made her name on dirt.
“Noble Mission proved that a son of Galileo could sire a top dirt performer”
Until 2021 the only group of rotaviruses to infect horses was Rotavirus Group A (ERVA). In the early 1990s the scourge of lifethreatening neonatal foal rotaviral diarrhoea, attributable to ERVA, became a controllable problem with the advent of an ERVA vaccine. In 2021 a novel rotavirus, classified as Equine Rotavirus B (ERVB), was identified in an outbreak of neonatal foal diarrhoea that affected foals in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons in the USA. This article will give a general overview of rotavirus infection and how to detect ERVA and ERVB in cases of diarrhoea, as well as lessons learned in helping to control outbreaks.
Rotaviruses are extremely contagious viruses. Because the virus particle lacks an envelope layer they are very difficult to inactivate. Rotaviruses are a major cause of diarrhoea in humans and animals. Sadly, globally they are the leading cause of severe diarrhoea and contribute to significant mortality in children under five years old.
Rotaviruses are classified by genetic sequence homology and antigenic specificity. As we have learned with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid, protection between strains is highly variable. This is also
true for rotaviruses where crossprotectivity between groups is rare.
Currently, nine groups are identified (Groups A-D and F-J) and different groups have different host specificity. For example, Groups A, B and C infect humans and, until recently, only Group A infected horses. In 2021 the University of Kentucky, in collaboration with the central Kentucky veterinary and farm
manager community, identified a novel rotavirus in diarrhoeic neonatal foals. This virus is of the Group B family and termed Equine Rotavirus Group B (ERVB).
Rotavirus diarrhoea is a very serious, life-threatening, highly contagious disease in foals that causes profuse watery diarrhoea. Equine rotaviruses typically affect foals under six months of age where generally the younger the foal, the more severe the disease, although this is affected by immune status and dose of virus among other factors. Adult horses are not typically affected.
There are currently no documented cases of humans being infected from working with rotavirus-infected foals but, nonetheless, biosecurity precautions should be employed whenever working with animals with diarrhoea.
The virus invades and multiplies in cells lining the small intestine. This results in the reduction of digestive capability, especially the digestion of the milk sugar, lactose. It also reduces the surface area for absorption. The
combination of decreased surface area for absorption and reduced digestion, coupled with undigested osmotically active molecules such as lactose, leads to fluid being drawn from circulation into the gut, resulting in rapid and profound dehydration.
Collectively this malabsorption, maldigestion, increased fluid volume, and gut inflammation culminate in watery diarrhoea. The presence of undigested milk in the gut lumen can also create an environment that allows pathogenic bacteria, such as Clostridium spp. to overgrow, possibly causing other problems.
A note on Clostridium spp. in foal faeces: Clostridium perfringens type A is an infectious bacterial agent that can be associated with neonatal foal diarrhoea and can be detected in the faeces of foals with diarrhoea. It has been identified in foals with rotavirus associated diarrhoea.
However, typically foals suffering from a primary Clostridium perfringens intestinal infection commonly present with low volume, bloody diarrhoea. Clostridial diarrheal disease, whilst infectious, does not create a situation
where every young foal on the premises has diarrhoea – as we often see with rotavirus. Our understanding of detecting Clostridium perfringens in neonatal foals requires careful reflection following an extensive study performed some years ago. That study found that 90% of normal Thoroughbred foals were positive for Clostridium perfringens on faecal culture at three days of age. This is clearly an area where further research is needed to unravel the role(s) of and interaction between potential gastrointestinal pathogens.
The highly contagious nature of rotavirus means that often multiple foals are affected in a susceptible group – for example where mares are not vaccinated against ERVA, or in the case of ERVB-associated disease where there is no protective vaccine at present. Susceptible, infected foals can show signs of disease as young as 2448 hours of age.
Foals with rotavirus initially do not develop a fever, but they appear dull
and quiet, stop suckling, and can have colic. They often develop abdominal distention, stasis of the gastrointestinal tract, and then develop profuse watery diarrhoea. Rapid, severe dehydration and electrolyte derangements can occur in a matter of hours, even before the onset of diarrhoea. These fluid and acid-base derangements can be fatal without rapid and intensive veterinary care, but typically respond extremely well to intensive care.
The age of onset and nature of the diarrhoea usually lead to a suspicion of rotavirus as a cause of disease, especially if multiple foals on one stud farm are affected. Faecal samples should be tested for rotavirus by PCR or, in the case of ERVA, may be tested by lateral flow tests designed for human ERVA but validated for use in horses. However, there is no crossreactivity between ERVA and ERVB, so when trying to detect both groups, specific tests for both ERVA and ERVB must be requested.
The University of Kentucky has worked with several labs in the UK, Ireland and France to set up PCR testing for ERVA and ERVB. At the time of writing, collaborating labs outside the US had not detected ERVB.
Timely veterinary supportive treatment of rotaviral diarrhoea is critical. Typically, it consists of intensive intravenous fluid therapy, gastric ulcer prophylaxis, and pain control where necessary according to the judgement of the attending veterinary surgeon. Whilst rotavirus is a viral infection which antibiotics do not address, the veterinary surgeon may employ antibiotics depending on the situation.
Rotavirus is spread via a faecal-oral route and is incredibly contagious. It is estimated that a 5ml teaspoon of rotaviral diarrhoea can contain billions of infective virus particles. It is also estimated that as few as 1001,000 particles can cause disease in a susceptible neonate.
Strict hygiene and biosecurity are essential to prevent the spread of rotavirus. No ‘one size fits all’ biosecurity protocol exists and as such designing one for your stud is a joint stud farm staff and veterinary team endeavour.
Common basic hygiene, which includes wearing gloves and clean protective clothing to handle foals, using foot dips with an appropriate disinfection outside stables, adequate disinfectant contact time, stable cleaning protocols, dedicated footwear for foaling units, reducing animal, human and vehicular traffic on the stud and between stables, and not using pressure washers in areas with horses nearby, are just a few items among many to consider in a protocol.
Leaf blowers can spread infected organic material absolutely everywhere and so cleaning up after mucking stables can be more safely achieved with power vacuum cleaners, such as a Billy Goats™ in critical areas such as foaling units. Muck and soiled bedding from infected stables should not be spread onto fields.
The practice of foaling mares outside in paddocks or pens with little to no contact with the mare and her newborn foal for 5-7 days, apart from the Day One foal exam/IgG check, has been part of many successful efforts to break the cycle of infection on premises experiencing the problem and to prevent the problem. For more information visit https://gluck.ca.uky. edu/2021-rotavirus-workshop.
Bleach is not an appropriate product to use in a stable – its activity is too easily destroyed by organic material. Quaternary Ammonium disinfectants are also readily inactivated by organic material, making their longevity in footbaths and in stable cleaning a significant disadvantage to use. Peroxygen compound or phenolic compound disinfectants are recommended with adequate contact
time as rotavirus is difficult to inactivate.
It is important to read the instructions on disinfectant products and if in doubt contact the manufacturer. All too often a product says it will inactivate rotavirus but may only have been tested on a clean nonporous surface.
The stud environment poses greater challenges and as such the most rugged product must be employed, mixed at the correct dilution with sufficient contact time, and foot baths etc must be changed frequently. Additional resources relating to biosecurity measures may be found on the Equine Disease Communication Center website at https://equinediseasecc.org/ biosecurity/disinfection.
Other important considerations include:
• Cleaning surfaces of grease and organic debris – combination detergent-disinfectant products can reduce the number of cleaning steps in this regard
• To allow sufficient contact time for disinfection
The Gluck Equine Research Center was pivotal in the development of the current monovalent Rotavirus Group A [ERVA-G3 genotype] vaccine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This vaccine is now offered by Zoetis® for administration to pregnant mares on three occasions during each and every pregnancy. The vaccine should be administered to pregnant mares during their eighth, ninth and tenth month of gestation.
This vaccine has been immensely helpful in preventing neonatal Rotavirus Group A diarrhoea in young foals. However, we do see Rotavirus Group A as a cause of diarrhoea in older foals, aged 75-150 days of age. At this age the disease is typically mild and self-limiting with timely veterinary intervention. Foals typically recover completely from rotavirus infections with timely veterinary care and appropriate supervision. This vaccine does not appear to confer any protections against Equine Rotavirus B.
All of this points to the dire need for an ERVB vaccine to control this problem and prevent recurrent outbreaks every few years. The University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center continues to work on behalf of the global equine industry to further horse health. Part of the current research effort is the production of an effective ERVB protective vaccine so much needed by our equine industry.
If you would like more information or to assist in the effort to develop a vaccine, please contact Dr Emma Adam on emma.adam@uky.edu.
The science behind exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH), often referred to simply as ‘bleeding’, is far from settled. The precise cause of blood appearing in a horse’s airways after moderate to intense work is not known, and there is no simple cure for the condition, although there are various methods of treatment and management.
Dr Emmanuelle Van Erck Westergren of the Equine Sports Medicine Practice in Belgium, a leading authority on EIPH, says: “There are still a lot of unanswered questions, and there are several research teams around the world trying to find what the right angle is.
“We do a lot of work in field practice, and with many different types of horses including sports horses and racehorses, so we get a broad view of what’s going on. We know, for instance, that more than half of all of the best international show jumpers will experience EIPH, which goes to show that it’s not just the result of intensive speed work.
“What we’re learning as we go along is that it’s not solely a pulmonary issue, and so focusing solely on the lungs might not bring you the right answers in terms of managing the disease. Instead, it seems to be a combination of several problems with the respiratory system.
“It could also be a degree of upper airway obstruction, lung inflammation, a cardiac problem like arrhythmia, or issues with the valves that cause heart murmurs.
“It could also be a factor of pain, because when you’re in pain your heart rate goes up, and your vascular pressure goes up as well. We’ve seen horses that have underlying musculoskeletal pain, for instance, that is associated with arrhythmia and in turn secondary EIPH.”
She adds: “It’s not just that a horse bursts its lungs, there is a reason why it does that. We need to understand the fine tuning that goes on in the horse when he’s at maximal speed, so we can address that as best we can, and the good news is that we have very interesting new diagnostic methods in the shape of wearable technology.
“We work with the French tech company Arioneo who make equimeters that trainers can put on their horses as a
belt. They measure not only speed, stride length and stride frequency, but also heart rate and ECGs, to see if when a horse experiences arrhythmic events at a higher rate, there is also a higher probability of EIPH occurring.”
However EIPH is diagnosed, its treatment needs to be swift and focused on giving the lungs the best chance of healing properly. That’s because lungs are a little like tendons, in that when they become damaged – as is the case with EIPH – they won’t heal into being as good as new; they lose their elasticity and capacity to ventilate, and so the more a horse bleeds, the more they lose their respiratory efficiency, which affects performance.
As in most medical matters, prevention is better than cure, and there are several environmental and nutritional measures that breeders and trainers can take to minimise the risk of bleeding.
“The healthier the horse, the less likely he is to have EIPH, and if we’re looking at respiratory health then certainly a healthy stable environment is of paramount importance,” says Van Erck Westergren.
“The more that the lungs have to deal with getting rid of dust or other contaminants like bacteria and fungi, the less effective they are going to be in supporting other sources of strain. So horses that inhale dust, or live in stuffy environments, are at a higher risk of being affected.
“We know for instance that fungus, which is ubiquitous in a stable environment
as it is found in hay and straw, can have a long list of noxious effects. It’s a fact that when it’s inhaled it creates an immune response and an inflammation, and we know that once it settles inside the airways it can cause allergies and infections, and depress the immune system.
“Even low levels can have a major effect. Not only does that open the window to secondary bacterial infections, it also lures the immune system into thinking nothing much is happening, and so the fungus starts to develop and thrive, and cause significant damage to the lungs.”
It is vital, therefore, that stables have sufficient ventilation, with air renewed at least 46 times per hour, and are cleaned out regularly, as urine mixed with bacteria causes ammonia, another airway irritant, to build up. Use of leaf or dust blowers in or around the stabling area should also be avoided.
A rule of thumb is that if staff who work around horses are irritated or inconvenienced by the atmosphere in the stables, the horse will be suffering much more, as it experiences those surroundings for almost the entire day.
Regarding nutritional management of EIPH, Van Erck Westergren continues: “It’s very important to make sure that hay is of tip-top quality. It should be remembered that it’s harvested and dried on the soil, which causes natural contamination, and because over the last 20 years we haven’t had winters that are as cold as they used to be, we’ve seen a degradation in the quality of the hay from a hygienic perspective.
“Also, it might sound far-fetched, but it’s likely that if you have a hard feed that causes high acidity, like oats for example, it can cause the horse pain, which creates problems associated with EIPH. You need a feed that is safe for the stomach and feeds the microbiota in the gut, which are protective of the immune system and help regulate levels of inflammation.
“Supplements that contain Omega-3 fatty acids found in high quality oils like linseed oil or fish oil, which are proven to be naturally anti-inflammatory, and Vitamin E, which helps with the healing of lung tissue after damage, are also interesting.”
There are of course many products on the market that claim to produce optimal environmental and nutritional conditions for managing EIPH.
Belgian equine giant Cavalor, for example, produces Bronchix Pulmo, available in syringed paste and bottled liquid versions.
“Where traditional ‘bleeder’ medication works on diuretic properties, this works on opening the airways and supporting capillary elasticity and resilience,” says the company’s international sales manager Tom Versprille.
“In association with Cavalor, Dr Van Erck Westergren conducted a clinical trial in active racehorses aged between two and nine in 2018. All horses were supplemented daily for 25 days, and all other variables such as environment were consistent across the study sample.
“The study concluded that daily oral supplementation of Bronchix Pulmo significantly improves oxygen intake in active racehorses. The product is covered by a negative urine and blood test performed by Laboratoires des Courses Hippiques, one of only five IFHAaccredited laboratories in the world. This makes it safe to use during competition.”
BleederShield, manufactured and sold by Biomedical Research Labs in the US, is another product containing natural ingredients that claims to optimise lung support for exercising horses. It is available in paste or powder form and, though mainly used in America at the moment, is gaining traction in Europe.
“There’s no such thing as a product that’s going to eliminate EIPH in every horse but BleederShield has been proven to be super-effective as a natural way of managing pulmonary haemorrhaging,” says Joe Villante, head of international development at BRL.
“The two main ingredients are hesperidin and yunnan baiyao. We have a lot of scientific data that shows that Hesperidin is anti-inflammatory
leading US trainer recently showed interest in using it, but had it tested prior to doing so. He took our products to his vets, who sent them to a lab, and obviously they came back clean as a whistle, so now he’s started using them.
“I welcome doing business with anyone who’s prepared to take the time and effort to test our products, to make sure what they’re getting is what we’re claiming.”
Bedmax is another manufacturer of equine products with lung health at the front of its mind. Its shavings are, according to the marketing, screened and vacuum extracted to eliminate airborne, respirable dust and spores, and are made from fresh pine timber, which has natural antibacterial properties. They are also dried at sterilising temperatures.
Bedmax also claims that its consistent mixture of large, medium-size and small shavings allows urine to drain down to the bottom of the bed, reducing ammonia contact with the lungs.
Flair nasal strips take a more physical approach to tackling the issues that cause EIPH. They were developed by equine veterinarians Jim Chiapetta and Ed Blach in the mid 1990s after they had seen horses experience a collapse of their nasal passages when breathing during exercise, blocking airflow to the lungs when oxygen is needed most.
In the words of its marketing, “Flair Strips make breathing easier. When horses breathe hard, the soft tissues overlying the nasal passages are sucked in, reducing the airway diameter. This reduction in diameter increases resistance to airflow into the lungs.
and decreases capillary permeability. The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine have conducted studies on the use of yunnan baiyao and found that it significantly reduced bleeding time.
“Yunnan baiyao is a proprietary blend of all natural herbs, nutrients and extracts from China, and it was actually used by Viet Cong soldiers to stop bleeding during the Vietnam war. There’s only one source for it, and we have a long-term contract to get as much as we need, whereas other companies are only able to import small amounts.”
The BleederShield paste formula contains a large quantity of yunnan baiyao, but no hesperidin, which is only in the powder due to manufacturing constraints.
“It’s been tested all over the world,” says Villante, who is heading to Newmarket during the breeze-up sales this spring to spread the word about the product. “A
“By supporting the soft tissues overlying the nasal passages, resistance to airflow into the lungs is decreased. This decreases the vacuum pressures pulling on the outside of the pulmonary capillary membranes to reduce EIPH.”
Van Erck Westergren reports that using a nebuliser mask to vaporise non-doping substances could also be effective in reducing bleeding.
“Giving the horse natural products to inhale can help clean up the airwaves, and is something commonly done in particularly dusty environments, such as the Middle East, or in cases where horses travel for prolonged periods, as happens in show-jumping,” she says.
“Nebulising can be done with something as simple as a saline solution, but there are also products that contain diluted essential oils that have been shown to be effective in cleaning the airways. It’s helpful because it has an antiseptic effect and reduces the chance of fungus developing in the airways.”
“Vitamin E helps with the healing of lung tissue after damage”
NAF has developed a plant-based nutritional product to address the problem of excessive inflammation in horses.
Metazone has been formulated to control and relieve inflammation by supporting a horse’s natural antiinflammatory responses – which are under stress during training – thus helping them to stay sound during periods of repeated exercise.
The product’s blend of plantbased phytochemicals can help target discomfort in the hooves, joints, tendons and muscles.
Trialled by researchers at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Metzaone is most suitable when a shortterm boost is needed but is also suitable for daily administration. Due to its natural formula, it is designed to work without compromising gut health and can be fed alongside any other NAF product.
Metazone is available as a liquid, in an instant use syringe and as powder, and comes in 1L and 5L sizes. For more information contact NAF’s racing manager Sammy Martin at smartin@naf-uk.com.
Transporting horses from the UK to America for racing and breeding purposes could become more complicated in future due to Brexit and Britain’s status as a third country.
The United States Department of Agriculture had planned to implement the requirement for any European
racehorses that had visited or raced in Britain in the 60 days prior to export to the States to have a supplementary fully endorsed health certificate issued by the UK authorities.
The proposed changes would have increased the administration and costs for those sending horses Stateside and
impacted on the cross-Atlantic trade that has grown rapidly in recent years.
Following the involvement of the US Jockey Club, the USDA decided not to implement the changes at the present time and the UK will continue to be treated in the same way as any visiting EU member state.
In times of economic uncertainty and high inflation some buy gold but others choose to invest in land. A quick glance back to the 1970s bears this out: during that decade, despite inflation running at almost 500pc, farmland still showed growth in real terms of around 75pc, according to figures from Knight Frank.
Arable farmland values in England have reached record levels – £10,600/ acre by the end of 2022 according to figures from Strutt & Parker – thanks to rising level of demand. The Knight Frank Farmland Index showed that agricultural land as an investment beat inflation in 2022 and outperformed many other asset classes including mainstream house prices, prime central London property, the FTSE 100 share index –and gold.
The impact of this rise in prices is being felt across the land market, from stud farms to arable farms and country estates. Motivating factors for
each sector, however, are broadly split between the discretionary buyer and commercially driven investors.
There are two groups of stud farm buyers, explains equestrian property specialist George Windsor Clive. “The first is the discretionary buyer who would like to wake up in the month of May to see their mares and foals grazing in the middle distance from the bedroom window,” he says.
“At the other extreme are the commercial operators who keep a close eye on their profit-and-loss lines – and will only buy if the sums look right, or when they suddenly have a draft of mares and need somewhere to put them.
“The latter market is surprisingly strong at present, while the discretionary buyers are just beginning to wake up having sat on their hands for the last year or so watching what
the economy is doing.
“They make their money in other sectors, so any purchase is heavily dependent on the health of that business. Having said that, they recognise that the world is moving on and I think we’ll see more of these buyers coming back to the market this year.”
When arable land values go up, it will have a direct impact on stud farm prices. “With amenity land in an area such as Newmarket, as soon as you put railings around it, the price per acre effectively doubles,” says Rob Fanshawe of buying agency Property Vision. “I value it as akin to parkland that surrounds a country house.” He adds that while those in the market for a classic stud farm need very deep pockets, they are out there playing the waiting game for the right one to come to market.
“There’s so much difference in value terms between a stud which is basically
a converted dairy farm to one which has all the elements in place and in mint condition,” adds George. “For a prime high spec stud farm with all the amenities in situ, the land values can come in at £30,000 an acre or more –but it’s a very flexible yardstick as there are so many variables to be considered.”
The classic discretionary buyer is that of the country estate. “Recent years have seen a strong uptick in demand for residential farms and estates that is wealthy buyers seeking out weekend boltholes,” says Rob. Estates – another nebulous term but one that roughly refers to a large house with a good amount of land, typically over 150 acres, with woodland, cottages and possibly commercial buildings – are hugely in demand. Last year, buying agents, such as the team at Property Vision, were approached by record numbers of interested parties. Some estates reportedly changed hands with prospective buyers only seeing them on video.
In September last year, it was reported that the New York-based Chief Executive of the investment company Blackstone had bought Conholt Park, a 17th century country estate in Wiltshire, for £80m. The fall in the value of the pound has drawn several dollar buyers to these shores to lay their hands on a
ABC Finance using data from Love Money, Who Owns England and additional public records research
• The average price of arable land in 2022 rose by 12pc to set a new record of £10,600/acre
• The average price of pasture land sold in 2022 rose by 13pc to £8,500/acre
• 77,400 acres of farmland was marketed in 2022, nearly 20,000 acres more than 2021 (this doesn’t factor in land sold in the private market)
• Land went under offer at the fastest rate for at least five years in 2022
• Private and institutional investors accounted for 30pc of transactions in 2022, the highest level for at least a decade
that provide valuable goods and services to society. According to Deloitte, the term applies “an economic lens to the world’s stocks of natural assets – like forest, river and soil – and how society and businesses rely on them to function.”
quintessential estate with strong historic provenance (at certain points along the currency fluctuations, dollar buyers have enjoyed a 20pc discount on sterling prices). Americans are the largest group of foreign homeowners in Scotland, according to figures from the Scottish land registry.
Natural capital is an almost ethereal concept, says Alex Lawson, head of farms and estates agency at Savills, but it’s loosely understood to refer to elements of the natural environment
In Scotland, investors and funds are buying up land suitable for tree planting schemes that (they hope) will qualify for carbon credits, a permit which allows an organisation to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions and which can be traded if the full allowance is not used.
While estates in the Highlands used to be snapped up for their sporting potential, today’s buyers are motivated by the opportunity to earn carbon credits from peatland restoration schemes or establish rewilding projects across thousands of acres. Highlands Rewilding, an enterprise founded by Jeremy Leggett, an environmental campaigner, recently bought the Tayvallich Estate in Argyll which had a guide price of over £10m.
To a certain extent the same is happening south of the border. So far
this year, the rewilding charity Heal has reportedly spent £5.25m on 460 acres of land near Bruton in Somerset, which will be stocked with rare-breed cattle, pigs and ponies. It’s part of their plan to establish a major nature recovery site in all 48 English counties by 2050 – a project which will, once complete, cover almost 25,000 acres.
Meanwhile, the insurer and pensions provider Aviva has given £38m to the Wildlife Trusts to support an expansion of temperate rainforests in this country – for those who didn’t know, these are found in places of high rainfall and humidity with a limited variation in temperature, including parts of the Lake District, west Wales and west Scotland.
Whereas farmer buyers are still active in the market, private and institutional investors accounted for 30pc of transactions last year; a significant increase in the average over the last decade of about 22pc, says Matthew Sudlow, head of Estates and Farm Agency at Strutt & Parker. “In addition, because such investors have typically
Top ten private landowners (estimated acres)
“Some estates changed hands with buyers only seeing them on video”
been buying larger farms and estates, their role in the market becomes even more significant in terms of how many acres they purchased,” he explains.
This growing interest in farmland for rewilding, conservation, carbon capture and natural capital gain has contributed to the rise in land prices which have been on an upward trajectory for some time. Over the last 20 years, the value of farmland has nearly quadrupled and forestry has gone up by as much as 60pc since 2020. Farming is now all about scale: more land means bigger machinery and greater efficiency. Small farms are being sold up; one in five have left the industry in the last ten years.
Alex Lawson has over 20 years’ perspective on the market. Right now, he says there is a record shortage in the supply of good-quality farms and estates. “It means when a decent property comes to the market – and that could be a good plot of land, an estate or a farm – if it’s priced right, there’s a bunfight for it.”
Demand has been particularly strong for larger blocks of commercial arable
land, adds Matthew. “Competitive bidding has meant that in some instances the price per acre achieved has been well in excess of the national average.” The firm’s figures reveal that more than a quarter of the arable land
very generous tax benefits, explains Rob. The most significant of which is Agricultural Property Relief, which provides relief from Inheritance Tax on the land and buildings (including houses) that are used by the owner for farming purposes. At the same time, land that qualifies for this relief can be given away without incurring Capital Gains Tax.
sold in 2022 achieved over £12,000/acre – a positive for vendors but it means that prospective buyers need some very deep pockets.
Ever since the Finance Act of 1975, owning farmland has conferred some
Observers sense, however, that the shift to ESG and carbon capture is likely to transform the tax landscape. “If an increase in land value is due to nonagricultural factors, these reliefs may not apply and exposure to IHT could be considerable,” explains Clive Beer of Savills. “Unless there’s a change in statute, redefining what constitutes agricultural land, there may be major ramifications for current owners’ succession planning strategies.”
Now, government bodies are said to be consulting and it remains to be seen how policies will evolve to reflect this market transformation – but it could have a considerable impact on the value of land, farms and estates in future.
“Demand has been strong for blocks of commercial arable land”Middle Halsway near Taunton in Somerset is a Grade II-listed farmhouse with three cottages, equestrian facilities and 42 acres. £3.25m through Strutt & Parker
The business of training racehorses has never been for the fainthearted and is certainly not getting any easier. When you are supplying a product that is entirely discretionary, economics are key. Everyone understands that owning a racehorse is costly, but thankfully racing is a habit that is easy to catch and difcult to kick.
The care and attention required to produce a racehorse to the optimum does not come cheap and of course many racehorses nowadays are owned in partnerships, syndicates or clubs in order to spread the cost, but none are immune to the rising cost of living.
On top of this and to a large extent unheralded, there is unfortunately another increase beginning to make its presence felt: the cost of Employers’ Liability insurance.
Every employer in the land is obliged by law to have an insurance policy in force in case they are sued for damages by an employee as a result of an injury sustained through their employment, with a minimum indemnity of £10 million. Naturally, a good employerwill do their utmost to avoid doing anything that may adversely affect the safety of their employees. But where racing is different is that most employers are not requiring their employees on a daily basis to interact with half a ton of ft and feisty fight animal that hasn’t read the Health & Safety manual. Add to this the terms of the 1971 Animals Act whereby liability is strict i.e., no negligence needs to be proved for a claim to be successful, then if a member of staff suffers an injury, there is little defence a trainer can successfully put up. Fair enough you will say, that is what this insurance is for and is of course absolutely as it should be where there is a serious and possibly lifechanging injury, the incidence of which are thankfully
rare. The problem lies with a trend that is threatening to get out of control, of claims being made for lesser injuries that can be regarded as part and parcel of working with horses but which due to the way the legislation is drafted will still have a chance of success. The racing industry is not alone in being subject to ‘ambulance chasing’ lawyers and when any claim is made, spurious or otherwise, it still needs to be properly and expensively investigated by the insurer. Where there is no water-tight defence, the Animals Act again, a level of damages has to be settled, often on the steps of the Court, and this is where losses for Employers’ Liability insurers are spiralling.
Most insurers in the general liability market run for the hills when they are asked to consider providing insurance for anything equine, so the pool of those prepared to participate is tiny – in fact, there are just two of any signifcance at the present time. Over the last fve years there has been an exponential rise in the incidence of stable staff making claims against their employer, often following redundancy and just squeezing inside the time limit of two years within which a claim has to be made. The actuaries that increasingly dictate the strategies of their underwriters predict dire loss ratios in the coming years, so those still remaining brave enough to stay in the game have been forced to make some fairly drastic premium increases in order to stand a chance of survival.
Not good news for racehorse trainers, but the alternative is to be left without any insurers prepared to underwrite racehorse liability. The Domesday scenario of no insurance would mean no training of racehorses. Somehow the premium necessary will have to be found.
Jonny McIrvine Partner, Weatherbys Hamilton LLPPontefract has announced record prize-money for 2023
British racecourses have announced a record level of executive contributions to prizemoney in 2022.
The prize-money figure of £182.5m for 2022 was almost 10% higher than the previous record of £166.3m in 2018. Racecourses’ executive contributions for the same period shows a 2.9% increase from 2018, with a 2022 total of £88.9m.
The Covid-enforced challenges which the sport had to deal with across 2020 and 2021 saw a significant increase in levels of contributions to prize-money by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), providing some much-needed stability for the British racing industry at that time.
However, the table below illustrates that the sport has now returned to the type of structure for prize-money contributions akin to the pre-pandemic years. There was a more extensive
contribution from HBLB in 2022 compared to those years immediately prior to the pandemic, with the additional prize-money support from the government’s Sport Winter Survival Package an important factor.
While it is premature to predict total prize-money levels for 2023, recent announcements from a number of racecourses provide cause for cautious optimism despite the challenging times.
Jockey Club Racecourses, Ascot, Goodwood, Newbury, Pontefract and Fakenham have all confirmed significant increases in their executive contributions for 2023. However, HBLB contributions will be lower in 2023, although still higher than the pre-Covid level. With HBLB contributions from September 2023 onwards yet to be confirmed, it is too early to be clear on the full year position.
Rising energy prices and wage costs, the potential impact of the
government’s gambling white paper and the ongoing cost of living crisis will continue to provide an extremely challenging financial environment for British racecourses in the foreseeable future. That makes some of the recent prize-money related announcements all the more impressive.
Charlie Liverton, Chief Executive of the ROA, said “British racing continues to make important strides and it is pleasing to see the growth of prizemoney in 2022 to record high levels. It is also encouraging to see racecourse executive contributions continue to grow in 2023 but we must recognise that, in overall funding terms the sport still faces significant risks.
“The biggest concern remains the continued impact of increased affordability checks by bookmakers on betting turnover and the cost of living crisis. We look forward to working with our industry partners to continue to make the necessary changes the sport requires and grow the sport.”
Newbury racecourse has announced a 16% increase in prize-money to be
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distributed throughout the 2023 Flat and jumps seasons, with total prizemoney on offer amounting to a record £6.06 million.
The injection in prize-money has been largely funded by a record executive contribution of £3.1 million, an increase of £650,000 from 2022, which represents a 26% year-on-year rise, with further increases planned in 2024.
Goodwood has announced record prize-money of £8 million across its 19 racedays this upcoming Flat season –an increase of £840,000 on 2022.
As part of the prize-money increases, the Group 2 Vintage and Markel Richmond Stakes will be run for increased purses of £175,000. Continuing at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, all Group 3 contests will be run for a minimum of £100,000, while Class 2 and Class 3 races will be boosted and run for a minimum of £60,000 and £35,000 respectively.
The August Bank Holiday fixture will host the valuable William Hill Prestige Stakes for £80,000 (up from £60,000) and the William Hill Celebration Mile for £150,000 (up from £125,000).
The success of the inaugural apprentice jockeys’ card as part of Goodwood’s first evening’s racing in June will see the initiative become a permanent fixture.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s World Pool will again be in operation over the first three days of the Glorious Goodwood Festival, with the Magnolia Cup moving to the Friday to make way for an additional race under Rules included on the Thursday card.
Pontefract has announced prize-money in 2023 in excess of £1.45 million –making it the richest programme of racing ever to be run at the track.
Managing Director Norman Gundill commented: “We are thrilled to announce our record prize-money for 2023. We are acutely aware of the huge part that owners play in racing and that they, like every part of the industry, have had their own severe financial difficulties. We have a large and varied list of valued sponsors and we would not be able to offer this prize-money without their incredible support. We’d like to thank all of them very much for their continued sponsorship.”
For the second successive year, Pontefract will be part of the Sunday Series, running the Sky Bet
Pontefract Castle Stakes on June 25. The corresponding fixture last year welcomed almost 10,000 racegoers and was heralded as one of the most successful days of the entire series.
A comprehensive schedule of work has been carried out at the course in recent years to improve facilities. A new state-of-the-art parade ring and a hi-spec accommodation block for stable staff have all contributed to an upgrade for racings participants, as well as larger accessible viewing areas, refurbished accessible toilets, hearing loops and accessible counters all part of the programme.
In addition, the lift in the Dalby Stand has been completely overhauled to provide a modern and safe conveyance for all guests. With a new weighing room on the horizon as well, a huge amount is being spent on providing top class facilities for both customers and participants alike.
Pontefract will also be implementing a new price structure that will see a reduction in admission costs at ten of its 16 race meetings in 2023.
The British European Breeders’ Fund has announced an increase in contributions to prize-money, bringing its support to £2 million for the first time in the organisation’s 40-year history.
Underlining the importance of the support the domestic stallion market provides for racing’s prizemoney, British EBF Chairman Simon Sweeting said: “Britain continues to be recognised for the quality of its stallion market: we stand promising young sires and established producers of champions. The support of all our stallion owners to the British EBF means we can support well over 700 Flat races in 2023 with £1.9 million –our biggest commitment to date.
“With our National Hunt programmes considered too, the British EBF contribution is over £2 million, directly to racing’s prizemoney. It is a genuine enhancement of the value of the race programme, with a particular focus on developmental races and projects that protect the diversity of the race programme and, ultimately, the thoroughbred.”
Several areas of the programme will benefit from the extra support, including juvenile developmental races, sire/dam restricted two-year-old races and a small series of novice and maidens for three-year-olds.
Members once again enjoyed a fantastic time in the ROA marquee at the Cheltenham Festival. As always, the facility was a sell-out, with numbers capped at 350 per day. Members commented on how the marquee was like a haven away from the throng of the crowds outside.
Joining members in the facility were representatives from our partners Racing Welfare and the Tote, who were on hand to chat to guests and let them know more about their work. The Tote also gave a preview of each day’s racing, which proved fruitful for those taking note!
The Thursday also saw The Craft Irish Whiskey Co, who this year sponsored the Leading Owner Award at the Festival, join us in the marquee for whiskey tasting and viewing their range of products, including The Emerald Isle, a collection of the world’s rarest Irish whiskey and the world’s first Fabergé Celtic Egg, and The Devil’s Keep, judged the World’s Best Irish Single Malt of 2022.
Guests had the opportunity to join our daily champion tipster competitions, with each day’s winner scooping £100 in Tote credit and two tickets to a Tote-sponsored raceday. The competition is won by the entry that stays in the competition for the most races, so it is a tricky contest! Congratulations to the following winners:
• Tuesday: Yvonne Carr
• Wednesday: Mick Horan
• Thursday: Howard Dawson
• Friday: Andrew Thomas
While the National Hunt scene was being dominated last month by a certain four-day shindig in the Cotswolds, Brewin’upastorm and his connections were content to look on from the sidelines as preparations continued for this month’s Grand National meeting. The classy ten-year-old has appeared at Aintree in April for the past three National meetings – it was of course cancelled due to Covid-19 in 2020 – and trainer Olly Murphy will be hoping one of his stable stars can again shine on the big stage.
Nine-time winner Brewin’upastorm is owned by ROA member Barbara Hester, who is not from a stronghold of National Hunt racing but whose passion for horses is lifelong. She explains: “I was born and raised in Canada and horses have always played a huge part in my life, not necessarily racing.
“As a child in Canada I spent any spare minute at a local stable mucking in and mucking out. On my 11th birthday, my grandad, who had emigrated as a young man to Canada from England, gave me a wonderful black and white picture book of the Grand National. I don’t know why he did, but perhaps in hindsight he was trying to tell me something!
“I moved to England about 1989 for work in the City, and started hunting. It was through that I got involved in pointto-pointing in a small way. I remember a hunt email looking for new owners to support a local point-to-point trainer. I had a glass of red wine in my hand at the time and pressed reply and agreed to buy a horse!
“That was 2012 and so began a passion for racing. I was involved in point-to-pointing for a couple of years supporting local trainer Julie Wadland. I learned so much from Julie and her
husband Charlie about pointing and racing under Rules. It was about two or three years later, February 2015, that I went to Ireland to buy my first horse to run under Rules.
“It was a magical trip to Cashel, where I met Timmy Hyde, a complete prince of a man and a very astute judge of a horse. He sold me my first form horse and it was the beginning of a long and successful relationship. He’s since gone on to sell me numerous horses, including Brewin’upastorm.”
The son of Milan has provided his owner with her three most high-profile wins – two Grade 2 National Spirit Hurdles and a valuable Class 2 hurdle at the inaugural Winter Millions meeting at Lingfield – but is not the only contributor to magical moments.
“I’ve had 14 horses who have raced in my silks under Rules, ten of whom were bought from Timmy, some privately,
some through public sales,” says Hester.
“That will be dwarfed by the number of horses I’ve owned in my life. I’ve likely owned 25-plus that I’ve hunted, and I currently have a small stable of showjumpers as well, with the talented young rider Joe Stockdale.
“I was an investment banker, now retired, and was Master of Foxhounds for 15 seasons. The job description now is racehorse owner, showjumping owner, and I do a bit of showjumping myself.”
Murphy is her man when it comes to racehorse training – location comes into it but is not the only factor.
“There are two guiding principles that have determined why I’m with Olly,” she says. “Number one is that whatever I’m doing in horse sport, and indeed in other areas of my life, I want to support young, upcoming people who need you, with whom you can make a difference. I’d rather be a big fish in a small pond.
“And secondly, I’m local to Olly Murphy Racing. Horses are a huge part of my life and I want to be able to see
that first-hand. I don’t just want emails and pictures and videos. I’m on this journey with each of these horses myself.
“I joined Olly with six horses in the autumn of 2017. He had taken out his licence six months earlier, so his journey really has been my journey. Not only have I been able to participate along with my horses, but it’s been in everything he has accomplished.
“I’m fortunate enough to own one of his three main stable stars – the other two being Thomas Darby and Itchy Feet. All three horses showed promise at the Cheltenham Festival in 2019, and it was at that meeting I was introduced to Grahame Whateley, Olly’s most important owner.
“It became obvious to me very quickly that Grahame was going to play an instrumental part in Olly’s team in the years to come. And I have enjoyed his success with horses alongside my own.
“Every time we have a winner, we’re on the phone to each other. It’s a real team effort in trying to help Olly achieve what he has set out to do. His parents are there with him every step of the way. It’s a great family atmosphere.”
While Brewin’upastorm actually has quite a good strike-rate – nine wins from 24 runs under Rules – his regular punters probably would say that backing him can be a bumpy ride. His owner wouldn’t disagree but, for her, the mishaps and occasional disappointments are all part of his story – and make the wins all the sweeter when they do arrive.
“Winning is everything, I suppose, however I’d say it’s even better with a horse who just keeps giving to you,” she says. “It’s never about a single day but the journey and how you got there, and how much character and tenacity a good horse has.
“My first very good horse was Knockgraffon, the first one I purchased from Timmy. Two of his big wins were at Musselburgh on New Year’s Day in the ‘Auld Reekie’ Handicap Chase, in 2018 and 2019 – the only day of the year you can do a return trip from Warwickshire in one day as there’s no traffic!
“It’s not the biggest race in the world, but for that track, that meeting, that feature race, the public loved him and it was such a wonderful feeling to take that horse three times to that race and to come away twice having won.
“Brewin’upastorm was bought through Timmy at the Cheltenham Sale in April 2017.
“Leading up to the National Spirit at Fontwell this year, his record was already pretty impressive. He’d won eight races, including a Grade 2 in the 2021 National Spirit, plus there was a Grade 1 second at Aintree, another Grade 2 second in the National Spirit, and he’d twice fallen at the last hurdle in Grade 2s at Cheltenham when travelling well and in contention.
“Basically, when Brew goes racing you never know what’s going to happen. You have to be prepared for anything, but he just keeps trying.
having a plan, being realistic with your target for a good horse, and getting him there on the day and winning a big race. That’s the best feeling.
“The Auld Reekie up at Musselburgh was Knockgraffon’s Gold Cup, and you could say that the National Spirit at Fontwell was Brewin’upastorm’s Gold Cup.
“Racing for prize-money is a laudable goal, a lot of people do it and I’m not necessarily against that, but for me it’s more about Brew being competitive, for himself and us.
“He likes to be up with the pace and over the last four seasons he’s grown in confidence with Aidan Coleman, who is always holding his hand; he likes to be at the sharp end of a race, so he’s in the game. That’s what I get out of it, being in a race, knowing you can win it and then actually winning it.
“The worst part, without question, is paying a lot of money for a well-bred store who turns out to have no interest in being a racehorse. There’s nothing more deflating.
“We’re not trying to waste money and throw it away. We’re using our best judgement, guidance and advice to try to find the next Constitution Hill. But they’re not all Constitution Hill, are they?”
Hester’s example of Constitution Hill, as opposed to say Flightline or Baaeed, underlines her considerable preference when it comes to codes
“He had finished quite tamely in the Grade 2 Relkeel at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day this year, we knew something was wrong, and the team, including vet Ben Brain and Ger Tumelty – Olly’s assistant trainer – made a plan for a wind op. Olly had six weeks from the wind op to get him fit and ready to win.
“We never go with this horse just to run, we go to win, because if everything goes right on the day, he’s perfectly capable of winning.
“When we achieved that as a team, it was truly magical, absolute tears of joy. Now we just have to do it again for Aintree, seven weeks on from Fontwell.”
Asked about the best aspects of ownership, and any frustrations, she replies: “The best thing is winning,
“I have no interest in the Flat whatsoever,” she says. “I own only jumpers and I think that comes from my hunting background. The ground and the obstacles play a huge role in the outcome of a National Hunt race, whereas normally on the Flat the best horse wins. In National Hunt that’s not always the case.
“Because I hunt and understand what it’s like to gallop across different ground, it just helps me to understand the game better.
“I don’t know how you make a horse go faster to win on the Flat, but I can understand what a trainer and jockey can do to try to improve a National Hunt horse’s chances of winning a race. I guess it just makes more sense to me.”
“When Brew goes racing you never know what’s going to happen”
Taking on Racing Welfare’s Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge this summer are Carol and Gemma Double. The mother and daughter team have more than 40 years’ experience in the racing industry between them, during which time they have experienced Racing Welfare’s support first-hand, as well as seen the impact of the charity’s work on those around them.
Carol first heard about the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge via social media and immediately thought it could be something for her and Gemma to do together.
Carol says: “I’m always up for a bit of a challenge! I messaged Gemma and said, ‘What do you think?’ and she said she was up for it.”
The pair signed up to the challenge the very next day, citing their joint incentive to “give something back” to the charity that supported Gemma in her recovery from an injury almost ten years ago.
Gemma recalls the accident that resulted in multiple fractures to her foot: “The filly I was riding whipped around, slipped, and fell on top of me. I had two operations [on my foot] and quite a lot of rehab.”
Carol was employed as a head person at a neighbouring yard at the time of her daughter’s injury and made the initial approach to Racing Welfare on Gemma’s behalf. She says: “Gemma was in and out of hospital so I contacted the local welfare officer. After the second operation, when she was ready to start with her rehab, they managed to get her into Oaksey House for physiotherapy which was good.”
Gemma continues: “Racing Welfare put me in contact with Oaksey House and funded my treatment there. They helped with the costs and sorted it all out for me.
“I had six months in a cast so I wasn’t really walking for a long time. They helped me out massively with all
presenting The Thoroughbred Forum ‘From Start to Finish’ on Saturday, April 22.
For Flat races run from April 1, 2023 horses that win on their second start will be eligible for a handicap rating to run in a Class 5 or 6 handicap race, subject to the handicapper being prepared to allot a rating of 77 or lower.
The horse may then run in a Class 5 or 6 handicap in its next race, rather than being required to run in another novice or other weight-for-age race, providing its rating remains at the appropriate level at the time of entry.
This rule is being introduced on a 12-month trial basis, following agreement by the industry’s Racing Group, having been proposed by the NTF. At present, horses are generally required to run in three Flat races before being eligible for a Handicap Rating, or in two races if having won first time out.
The Thoroughbred Forum
Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), in partnership with HEROS Charity, are
To be held at North Farm Stud in Wantage, the educational day will highlight the life cycle of a thoroughbred, from cradle to grave. The speakers will discuss topics such as breeding, retirement, farriery, nutrition, and transitioning from racing to a relaxing second career.
Tickets are now on sale at £60 for RoR members, £80 for nonmembers and includes refreshments, a light lunch and all aspects of the forum. To book your ticket for the visit go to bit.ly/RORForum
Tattersalls bonus
Owners of two-year-olds bought at the 2023 Tattersalls Craven Breezeup Sale will once again be rewarded with multiple bonuses as Tattersalls will offer the £250,000 Tattersalls Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus for the third year running, in addition to the lucrative and widely acclaimed £15,000 Tattersalls Craven Breezeup Bonus scheme which has already paid out £555,000 in bonuses.
the physio and getting me back to work again – all I wanted to do was to get back to work and get riding again.
“[The treatment at Oaksey House] was good, I had it very intense for the first two weeks – they know how to get you back [and ready to ride] again!”
Following her intense physiotherapy, Gemma was able to return to work by the end of 2014. She is currently working for Dan Skelton and has been with the Alcester trainer for six seasons.
Although Gemma’s support from Racing Welfare ended almost ten years ago, she reflects on the help that she sees being extended to others at her current workplace: She explains: “Recently we had a welfare officer visit us on the yard. We’ve got a few members of staff here that struggle a little bit financially and the welfare officer helped them all out. I know Racing Welfare have really helped a number of [my colleagues] massively… and I know that wouldn’t be possible if the fundraising didn’t go on behind the scenes.
“It’s nice to know that if myself or anyone else were to get injured again we’ve got a charity that can help us, and in more ways than one. We’ve a lot of posters up [at work] about the mental health support as well, so it’s good to support the charity as much as we can.”
Head over to racingwelfare.enthuse. com/pf/carol-double to support Carol and Gemma in their challenge. Or why not pull on your own walking boots and join them on July 8? Sign up for Racing Welfare’s Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge at racingwelfare.co.uk.
BHA Chief Executive Julie Harrington quite rightly said that the Cheltenham Festival is a showcase for our sport and is a prime opportunity to attract new fans, particularly from the younger generation. She also recently said: “If 45% of those 18 to 24-year-olds who don’t come racing think the whip is a welfare issue, we need to do something about how we are presenting the sport to those people.” I find this somewhat confusing, as these 45% are highly unlikely to become racing fans anyway. Surely it makes more sense to target the youngsters that attend the student racedays and the best way to target these in relation to the whip is to educate them.
We are constantly told that the modern-day whip, or pro-cush, does not hurt the horse and some experts say it is merely the noise that it generates that encourages a horse to go forward. If the young racing fans are educated to understand this, the chances are they will accept the use of the whip as a necessary tool for a jockey. Those nonracing fans are more likely to listen to people in their peer group than from the older generation and you never know, they may eventually become racing fans themselves.
The other spectre hanging over racing fans and punters is affordability checks. The prospect of being asked to provide proof of earnings and/or savings by their bookmaker is deeply concerning. I personally bet more on a Saturday than any other day of the week because the racing is of a higher quality.
Cheltenham is like four Saturdays on the trot for me and the amount of money from settled bets each day is likely to exceed a normal Saturday. It might help if we knew what the trigger point is for affordability checks with each bookmaker, but maybe that would cause even more stress. The fact is that punters like myself put money aside for Cheltenham. The tickets are more expensive than normal racedays and the hotels are more expensive, so shouldn’t we be allowed to increase our betting bank across the four days as well?
I treat the Festival like a holiday. Could you imagine saving up for that special summer holiday, only to be told on arrival that you have too much spending money
and you have to leave some of it in safe keeping with someone who will give it back to you when you fly home? It’s my money and I should be allowed to spend it how I like.
A recent survey in the Racing Post reported that the largest group of respondents were over 50 – no surprise there for those of us who go racing regularly. But thinking back to when I first got the racing bug, it wasn’t a lot different then. When I was in the 18-24 age group, not many of my friends were into racing. I certainly didn’t have the time, nor the disposable income, to attend many meetings back then and when I frequented betting shops, it was mainly full of over 50s. Fast forward to now and I’m in the 55-64 demographic – the most popular responders to the Racing Post survey. I go racing an awful lot more now because I have the time.
My friends who weren’t into racing many years ago occasionally join me. I organise trips to Sandown for the Eclipse and Tingle Creek meetings for a group of eight of us, mainly my old school friends. I’ve also managed to get them to the Cheltenham Festival (twice) and four of us recently went to the Dublin Racing Festival. When we turned 60 a couple of years ago, we took a table in the Ebor restaurant at York on Nunthorpe day and our wives joined us to help us celebrate our landmark birthday. The reason I’m saying all this is that the BHA can ill afford to neglect racing fans who are over 50. We are the core supporters of the sport.
Getting back to how best to attract younger fans, I like the idea of getting youngsters more involved in racing and bringing your grandkids racing is a great strategy. I’ve done this with my four grandchildren. They enjoy it, but they’re not hooked yet, whereas my nephew’s nine-year-old daughter says Derby Day is her favourite day of the year.
Thinking back to how I first got interested in racing, it was my Mum telling me that Arkle was running and that we were all going to watch him on the telly, as he was the best horse in the world! On a Saturday, my Dad always had the racing on and when Red Rum won his first Grand National, that was the clincher for me and a lifelong passion was born.
The BHA should be selling the modern-day stars if they want to attract new racing fans. Some people believe that Constitution Hill is the best hurdler ever. They should be promoting this in the lead up to the big events. A young person’s introduction to the sport should be seeing a fantastic champion that leaves a lasting impression. Wait until they’re in the 18-24 age group, their first impression of racing may be spending it in a racecourse bar.
If we catch them earlier, they can still join their friends in the bar, but they’ll also make sure they visit the paddock and watch the races. And who knows, in 40 years’ time, their friends who are not that interested in racing now may well be joining their friend and appreciating the joy of the sport we all love.
Gentle Frank was amongst the Totesponsored winners in March, taking the Virgin Bet Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster. The son of Gentlewave was recording his first win under Rules for owner Sue Howell and won easily by 13 lengths.
Sue had previously owned the lovely staying mare Win My Wings who captured the Scottish National last year before being forced into retirement. Hopefully she has another nice prospect on her hands.
Applications are still open for horses to join March’s Tote Owner Sponsorship Scheme. We run four schemes throughout the year with each running for a 12-month period.
The scheme provides sponsorship for horses in training which are wholly owned by ROA members. In the case of
a racing club or syndicate, then all club/ syndicate managers need to be ROA members in order for the horse to be eligible. Where the horse is owned in a partnership, all owners need to be ROA members.
A sponsorship payment of £100 per horse is made to the owner entity once the particular scheme their horse is sponsored under has closed. This is paid into their racing account.
Sponsored horses will need to carry a Tote logo on the chest and collar of the owner’s colours. There are no provisions for branding on attendant’s clothing or horse rugs.
Sponsorship allows the ownership entity to register for and reclaim the VAT charged on the purchase price of their horse and many associated fees. This can
represent an annual VAT recovery of over £4,700 for each horse, benefiting owners to the tune of £7.5m each year.
Pontefract racecourse hosted its first ever awards ceremony at a ’Welcome to Pontefract’ lunch in March. Connections of the winners were presented with mementoes to mark their success, with some stalwarts of the Pontefract turf and unsung heroes of the equine world getting their name in lights.
The champion stayer title went to the Ruth Jefferson-trained Flint Hill, who won the Pontefract Stayers Series for a second successive year. The winning owners, Robert Whitelock and Lynn Clemitson, were on hand to collect the award, with their seven-year-old gelding reportedly on course to make a defence
of his title this season.
Performance of the season went to the Archie Watson-trained Corinthia Knight, who has won six of his nine starts at the West Yorkshire track, including carrying a welter weight of 10st3lb to victory in a six-furlong handicap on June 6, 2022.
Chris Patten, representing winning owners Ontoawinner, collected the award and reported that the gelding had been running on the all-weather over the winter, but would be back at Pontefract in 2023.
Pontefract’s Horse of the Year was Round The Island, trained by Simon
As part of the ARC £1,000,000 AllWeather Bonus initiative, the Horse Of The Month prize for February has been won outright for the first time by Buxted Too.
Owned by the Buxted Partnership, the five-year-old will receive £40,000 after the bonus doubled for the February, March and April competitions.
The ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus started on October 18 and will culminate on All-Weather Finals Day, on Good Friday, April 7.
Points are awarded for finishing in first place down to fifth, and the horse with the most overall points at the end of the season will receive a bonus of £100,000 and be crowned Horse of The Year. Points are accrued in a horse’s first three runs in any monthly period at Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Southwell and Newcastle.
Buxted Too won all three of his starts throughout February at Newcastle and Lingfield. The son of Iffraaj has subsequently risen 13lb in the handicap, but he was most
Whitaker in Scarcroft, West Yorkshire. The course regular recorded his seventh victory at the track in 2022 and the trainer has a close eye on equalling the record of eight course wins set by the hero of yesteryear, Mr Wolf.
Mr Wolf’s owner, Andy Turton, picked up the final special award for his Pontefract specialist, Mr Orange, following his retirement at the end of 2022. The course favourite, who won seven races up the famous hill between 2016 and 2021, will be very much missed in 2023. Mr Orange is fit and well though and thoroughly enjoying a wellearned retirement.
impressive in his final win when scoring by three-and-a-half lengths at Newcastle.
It is the second time that Ian Williams’s yard has won a bonus this winter, and he commented: “It’s a great opportunity for horses of his kind, and we were lucky enough to win it in December with Dream Harder. It has become something which is worth targeting and the bonus is something the owners really appreciate.
“They put a lot of money into racing and to pick up a bonus like this for them and the stable staff is well appreciated from all at Ian Williams Racing.”
Where did you watch the race from?
The Brown Advisory is on the second day of the Festival and if you remember last year the rain was torrential. It started on our journey to the course and did not stop all day! We had got very damp by the time of the race, which was the second on the card.
After the paddock everyone raced off to the stands to watch the race, but as it was wet and slippery, I waited with the crowds at the bottom of the owners’ viewing area.
When the commentator shouted ‘They’re off!’, the noise was deafening. I settled down in my mind after the first jump, and managed to enjoy the race – somehow I just knew he was going to win. At the end of the race, I was jumping up and down with my umbrella amongst the crowds!
Patricia Pink and her husband Peter were no stranger to Cheltenham Festival runners, as their Nordance Prince had lined up at three Festivals in the early 2000s. But, as she explains, not even the weather could dampen the thrill of owning a winner there last year!
My Husband Peter and I first came into racing with a horse called Mona’s Prince in early 1993. He was an exracehorse that we bought for our youngest daughter to ride. This didn’t work out for various reasons, so we decided to try him back in racing with David Wilson, who was based local to us in Epsom. He did not prove successful, and after six races with no luck we retired him again. However, he sparked the racing bug in us as we enjoyed going to the races and wanted more.
David bought on our behalf a two-year-old colt who we named Nordance Prince, with whom we had lots of fun. He won three races on the Flat, running in our company name Pinks Gym. After a tendon injury, we sent him to Venetia Williams, where he went on to be very successful,
winning lots more races, including the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot and the Castleford at Wetherby. He retired from racing in 2004. Since then, we have remained owners intermittently over the years.
How did you find L’Homme Presse?
In summer 2021, Venetia told Peter that Andy Edwards was looking for a partner to take a half share in L’Homme Presse. Peter was very keen, but I was a bit dubious at first as he’d had a tendon injury in the past. Luckily I saw sense in the end and he went from strength to strength in such a short time!
We had enjoyed an unbeaten run going into Cheltenham, starting with his novice wins at Exeter and Ascot. We started to get excited after the Dipper over Christmas time, and then really started thinking about returning to Cheltenham for the Festival after his Scilly Isles win at Sandown. We had some options of where to go, but the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase was always the most likely option, and we went there with high hopes.
How did you feel when L’Homme Presse crossed the line in front?
It was truly a magical moment, a dream come true. Not only was it a Festival winner, but to happen in a Grade 1 was very special and the pinnacle of our racing career. How I got to the winner’s enclosure is a blur. Then I saw a wonderful sight: my husband Peter leading L’Homme Presse in with the huge roar of the crowd. It truly was an amazing sight and one I will never forget.
Going up to collect the trophy presentation with Peter, Andy and Pam were greeted by the lovely Zara Tindall, who after the presentation photos then took us up to the Royal Box for champagne, which was marvellous. We had the honour to meet Princess Anne too. Zara then took us to the Jockey Club box for more champagne! What a wonderful day, we really couldn’t have asked for more.
L’Homme Presse is currently recuperating from his injury, so we missed Cheltenham this year – but hopefully we can come back next year and help make some more wonderful memories.
The recent article written by Charlie Brooks in The Telegraph (February 13, 2023) is not new news to the insurance industry, writes Olivia
Curl, Lycettssenior account executive at
For years brokers and insurers have been banging the drum for awareness in respect of the restricted markets and the importance of health and safety. The requirement for best practice to be standard across the industry, the slippery slope of claims frequency and increased settlement costs which has been looking us in the face with the reality being that similar to Ireland.
In his column, Brooks said: “Anyone who thinks this is alarmist claptrap should consider what happened to Irish point-to-points in 2021. It came to a juddering halt when underwriters pulled out of insuring the hunt clubs who staged the meetings. A sticking plaster solution was found, but the problem has not gone away.
“The problem is that there are now only two underwriters in the London insurance market who want to offer public and employment liability insurance cover to racehorse trainers. This is because the entire thoroughbred liability premium pool amounts to less than £10 million, compared to the highest single pay-out to date, which includes defence costs and settlement, of £6 million.”
The thoroughbred industry could grind to a halt if we are not proactive and continue to be reactive. The Animals Act 1971 can certainly be held accountable for the smoke screen it has created in respect of the law. Currently no negligence needs to be proven, as was evident in respect of cases Mirvahedy v Henley & Henley [2003] which set a precedent for future cases.
This gives rise to two important questions:
1) Is a £5 million limit of indemnity
for commercial businesses enough cover? I feel the answer is obvious with settlements already exceeding £5 million.
2) How do we protect our industry in order that we are stable, not just for this year but future years to come?
The onus is on individuals in the industry to not only take responsibility but also, with the assistance of us as brokers, to increase awareness in respect of combined liability and how best to work with insurers in mitigating risk. As well as to act as signposts to where the support is available for those not only in racing yards but in studs and all associated businesses.
The TBA is at the forefront on this requirement, directing members to Racing2Learn for Red Book and full health and safety responsibilities. As part of a Lycetts combined liability policy, clients are provided with the health and safety toolkit – a thorough guide to health and safety requirements within the industry. Adhering to requirements and being able to evidence that you have done so can
The first two member days of 2023 are scheduled for this month.
April 20 – Visit to Ben Pauling’s state-of-the-art training facility, Naunton Downs, followed by an afternoon of
National Hunt action at Cheltenham with lunch.
April 25 – Visit to Weatherbys for a tour of the offices followed by an update on the many advances being made in
make a huge difference during the claims process.
The evidence required in order to defend any claim is substantial and having well-ordered and up to date health and safety records are key. The TBA members’ liability policy is a policy for individuals only, those who have their own horse that is for private use – such as a retired racehorse that they now do ROR with, or one racehorse that they have in training. It is a policy of last response and will respond only if someone has not got cover elsewhere.
At the point that a member has employees or is breeding on a commercial level for financial gain, a separate policy is necessitated. Syndicates and partnerships should all have their own liability insurance in place. We would urge anyone who is unsure or requires cover to speak to us in the first instance; there is no charge for our time or for a quotation. There have been increases in premiums over the past few years, however they are considerably smaller than the potential legal fees and settlement costs that can occur.
the industry. Lunch will be provided.
To find out more information, as well as to secure your place, visit the events page of the website. Or, alternatively, call Alix Jones in the office.
Join us next month for the ninth annual TBA National Hunt Awards, hosted by Nick Luck. Celebrating the best of British National Hunt breeding from the 2022/23 season, the event will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Doncaster on Monday, May 22.
Tickets are priced at £65 for TBA members, £70 for non-members
(discounts available for table of ten bookings) and can be purchased via the events section on the website.
Supported by Goffs UK, the evening, which takes place at the end of the first day of the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale, consists of a champagne and canape reception, followed by a two-course meal and the awards ceremony, which includes the prestigious Queen Mother’s Silver Salver.
Breeders, trainers, owners, agents – everyone is welcome to join us in celebrating British National Hunt breeders and their successes.
TBA Chief Executive Claire Sheppard said: “It was
to meet with Una and her team as well as EFTBA representatives Dr Des Leadon and Kerry Ryan, at the ITBA offices in January.
“The meetings provided a great opportunity to discuss matters of mutual interest, including horse movement, trade, environmental sustainability, welfare and events. We look forward to working more closely with our Irish counterparts on common challenges and new opportunities to strengthen the future of our industries.”
Defra has recently published further information on the growth and rollout of the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS).
For breeders who are currently registered with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), already engaged in grant schemes, or interested in becoming involved in them, now is a good time to start thinking about what options may be suitable. There are several opportunities for environmental grant support available that may be applicable to stud farms, including Countryside Stewardship, Capital Grants, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
Defra are currently funding free advice to farmers and land managers via the Future Farming Resilience Fund and a link to register for tailored support from ADAS is available on the TBA website.
The TBA’s Environmental Sustainability Working Group has recently appointed consultants to commence the creation of a bespoke digital carbon calculator tool for stud farms. This calculator will support breeders with baselining their carbon footprint, benchmarking their operation against others of a similar size and remit, and with modelling future scenarios to reduce their negative impact on the environment.
Midnight Legend was a stallion who provided plenty for British National Hunt breeders time and time again and it was a great loss to owners David and Kathleen Holmes when he passed, aged 25, in 2016. Thus, his final crop, which numbered 11 foals, are six. One of the three colts born is the Holmes’s own stallion Midnights Legacy, whilst amongst the eight fillies born is You Wear It Well. Bred by Jane Makin and her late husband Reg, the Jamie Snowden trainee improved on her Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle second place finish with an impressive win back against her own sex in the Grade 2 Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown Park.
Four days earlier Pink Legend, another daughter of Midnight Legend, won for a third time at Listed level when landing the three-mile Listed mares’ chase at Exeter. Owned and bred by Frank Mahon, the nine-year-old was adding to previous Listed wins at Cheltenham and Huntingdon.
The other Listed contest, a two-mile event for novice hurdlers, went the way of the Pump and Plant Services Ltd-bred Luccia. The Nicky Henderson-trained filly proved far superior to her rivals.
Ben Brookhouse is just starting out on his training journey and had his first black-type scorer with his second winner, Aslukgoes. A son of Yorgunnabelucky, the five-year-old, who had won a pair of bumpers for Ian Williams last summer, took the Listed bumper at Newbury in battling fashion for Ben’s father Roger, who bred him out of the Unfuwain mare She’s The Lady.
Winner of the Greatwood Hurdle in November, I Like To Move It gained his biggest victory to date with a demolition of the opposition in the Grade 2 Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton. The son of Trans Island was bred by John and Alice Dawson.
The same day, but up at Haydock Park, Makin’yourmindup, a son of Kayf Tara and bred by Mill House Stud and Kathy Stuart, came out best in the Grade 2 Prestige Novices’ Hurdle.
Golden Horn relocated to Overbury Stud ahead of this covering season and his son Nusret showed a fine turn of foot to take top honours in the Grade 2 Adonis Juvenile Hurdle. The four-yearold entire was bred by Hesmonds Stud.
On the level in the Middle East, Godolphin scored with a pair of Dubawi geldings. Warren Point took out the
support app
Open to anyone working in or retired from the British racing and breeding industries, Racing Welfare has launched an app where users can access information, advice and support services whenever they require it.
Available on both Apple and Android, the app offers a range of
information, advice and guidance on areas such as mental health, physical health, careers advice and training services (CATS), money matters, retirement and housing.
More information can be found via www.racingwelfare.co.uk.
Respect in Racing
Respect in Racing is an industry Code
Listed HRH Prince Salman Bn Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Cup in Bahrain before running second in the HH The Amir Trophy, a local Group 1 in Qatar. Their second win of the month was provided by Siskany in the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy.
Earlier in the month and the Shadwell-bred Miqyaas, an eight-yearold son of Oasis Dream who was making just his 11th racecourse appearance, landed a shock in the Group 2 Blue Point Stakes over five furlongs.
At Sandown Hillside in Australia, the Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstockbred Steinem, a daughter of Frankel, gained her biggest victory when capturing the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes.
Results up to and including February 28. Produced in association with GBRI.
of Conduct setting out standards aimed at protecting the values of British racing and promoting a respectful, supportive and safe working environment which came into effect on October 1, 2022.
More can be found out about this through the BHA website (www. britishhorseracing.com) where there is also a training module supporting the code.
Nominations for this year’s TBA Stud Employee Award are now open. Generously sponsored by New England Stud, the annual award is presented at the Flat Breeders’ Awards, which will take place in July.
The award recognises the significant contribution that stud employees on Flat and NH stud farms make to the thoroughbred breeding industry and rewards those individuals who have shown dedication and excellence within their roles.
Nominations can be submitted by an employer, colleague, or client by downloading a form from the TBA website at www.thetba.co.uk, where the terms & conditions and further information about the award can also be found. Any completed paper forms should be sent to the TBA office or
emailed to Rob Davey (rob.davey@ thetba.co.uk).
Alternatively, a voice note/text can be sent via Whatsapp to 01638 661321. This needs to detail name and contact details of the nominator, the nominee's name, and employer's name, as well as the reasons why they are being nominated for the award.
Nominations will close on Tuesday, May 2, after which the judging process will commence. The award winner will be selected from six shortlisted candidates and receives the perpetual Charlie Langton bronze trophy and a £2,000 cash prize. The remaining five shortlisted nominees will receive a certificate and £250 each, in recognition of their achievement.
Last year the winning recipient was David Gardner of New England Stud.
The TBA is asking members to nominate someone who they think deserves to win the prestigious Andrew Devonshire and Dominion Bronzes at this year’s TBA Flat Breeders’ Awards Evening. The event is due to take place on Wednesday, July 12 at Chippenham Park, Newmarket.
The Andrew Devonshire Bronze recognises outstanding achievement and contribution to the British thoroughbred breeding industry.
The Dominion Bronze recognises outstanding contribution and long-term commitment from someone who has worked in the industry.
The Industry Merit Award recognises significant achievement from an individual, team or organisation in areas such as environmental sustainability, community engagement/outreach, diversity and inclusion, innovation and initiatives which contribute to the longterm future of the breed and sector. If you
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To nominate someone for any of these awards, email olivia.may@thetba.co.uk. Nominations close on Monday, April 10 at 5pm.
l Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, Tough Consistant Winning Miler,
l Group 1 winner osf Lockinge Stakes; also Listed Race Winner.
l Trained by John Gosden, running 14 times, 5 wins and
l 2 seconds, 4 thirds, ¾ brother to Iceman
l Virtual has sired 75 winners to date of over £1,000,000
l Including the exciting young chaser Hewick, winner of the
l Grand National at Far Hills USA; Galway Plate; bet365 Gold
l Cup, Sandown; Class 2 Durham National Chase, Sedgefield.
l Eclipse Award winner 2023.
l Stud fee: £750 Concessions for Non-TB NFFR.
More than £9 million in bonuses paid out
GBB has been a fantastic initiative and is really achieving what it set out to do. As a result of FAIRFIELD FERRATA’s success, I have other owners wanting GBB-registered mares, so we go to the sales specifcally looking for them.
Jedd O’Keefe, trainer of FAIRFIELD FERRATAGBB makes a huge diference to the fnancial viability of thoroughbred studs in the UK. The stud is delighted to have received two bonuses from TOUCHY FEELY’S wins. The prize money and owner’s GBB will have more than covered the costs for training her.
Robert Waley-Cohen, Upton Viva StudThe three cornerstones of modern British racing – breeding, betting and the racing itself – came together in Frank Mahon’s nomination as February’s TBA Breeder of the Month for the success of his nine-year-old Pink Legend in Exeter’s Listed mares’ chase.
Merseysider Mahon, 71, has a lifetime’s experience in betting, often as an innovator but first as General Manager of the Liverpool-based, 50plus portfolio of Mawdsley Bookmakers’ shops before ten years as Managing Director and Chairman of the Gibraltarsited online operator Bwin International, and the rewards led to his fulfilling racehorse ownership aspirations.
“I’d always wanted horses but could never afford one before I first got involved in 2005,” he explains. It was a rocky start, as the Mark Johnstontrained stayer Mana Dargent, who has proved to be his only Flat racer, ran three times before an accident on the gallops. However, Mahon was undeterred by the experience.
He recalls: “The following year I got a decent bonus and was on leave from Gibraltar when I went down to see Venetia Williams, who I’d always followed as a punter, and she showed me a wonderful three-year-old Cadoudal gelding called Latanier, whom she’d bought in France for €40,000.
“He looked magnificent, and I bought him on the spot. He raced for five seasons and won six races for me. He would have gone on, but he hit a hurdle badly at Perth and was never the same horse afterwards.
“That led to Venetia ringing me about
Sponsoredby Distributer of
Thief, named by my family because they said I was spending their inheritance on horses!
“Then we went to Midnight Legend for two seasons and got the sisters Pink Legend and Eleanor Bob, who’ve done themselves proud, though they don’t look alike and are entirely different in racing requirements. Pink Legend wants decent ground up to three miles, while Eleanor Bob needs heavy ground and long distances. That’s bloodstock for you.”
what she said was ‘a really good-looking horse’ she’d bought for 24,000gns at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sale. It was a three-year-old filly called Red And White, who, oddly enough, had been trained by Mark Johnston. I liked the pedigree as she was by Red Ransom out of Candice, a nice Maktoum racemare who was third in the Lupe Stakes before running in the Oaks won by Imagine, and then second in the John Musker.
“I wasn’t looking to breed from her at the time, I just wanted a jumper, but she wasn’t much good at that game. Still, she was a beautiful-looking filly –still is – and she always tried her best, so after she injured her off-hind foot at Stratford, I thought that as she was also so well-bred, I’d breed from her.
“I couldn’t afford to pay a lot for horses and wasn’t keen on buying cheap ones, so I decided to look for the best stallions I could afford, and I sent her first to Kayf Tara, from which we got Pink Tara. She wasn’t brilliant but she did win a race, a handicap hurdle at Hereford in March 2018 on her 11th and final outing, my first winner as an owner-breeder, which was marvellous.
“Her second produce was a Black Sam Bellamy gelding called Inheritance
While Pink Legend was unlucky when beaten a neck in the mares’ chase at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, her Exeter success was her third at Listed level and her fifth in total, all coming in Great British Bonus (GBB) races. She followed her Exeter success up with a fine third in this year’s mares’ chase at Cheltenham.
One behind her in wins, Eleanor Bob is on the comeback trail following injury.
“We decided very early this season that we’d give Eleanor Bob the full year off,” Mahon explains, “but she’ll be back in the last three months of the year. She’s eight-years-old, which is the cutoff age for GBB, but there are enough races in that time to make it count. GBB has been great for a small breeder like me, and it means a filly like Pink Legend will have some decent value as a broodmare.
“I can’t believe that more people don’t get involved as small breeders. Instead of going out and spending £50,000 at the October sales on something that might win a couple of hurdle races, for that amount of money you could set up your own breeding programme and have a lot of fun over a lot of years, especially if you get into the GBB schedule.”
Since its foundation over 20 years ago, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), British Horseracing’s official charity for the welfare of horses who have retired from racing, has made a significant difference to the lives of thousands of former racehorses. Alongside providing retraining and welfare advice, many lifelong connections and partnerships between owners and riders have been made through RoR.
Many of these combinations compete in RoR’s competition series’ which cover a wide range of equestrian disciplines. It has created a demand for former racehorses that few would have thought possible. Competitions across Great Britain see thousands of horses participating in RoR classes, and the National Championship Show at Aintree as well as the RoR Awards held at The Jockey Club Rooms are now major industry events.
It is not uncommon to hear people refer to former racehorses as an ‘RoR’. Such is the success of our work that, arguably, a breed has been renamed! RoR also provides an unsung service where any former racehorse that falls on hard times, regardless of how long it has been retired from racing, is supported through our Vulnerable Horse Scheme, British Horse Racing’s very own ‘Racehorse Benevolent Fund’.
So, has the industry addressed all the concerns relating to racing aftercare? Clearly not when repeated surveys still indicate a high percentage of people (from both equestrian and non-equestrian backgrounds) continue to have concerns that aftercare is an afterthought. We would like to get to a place where the public recognises that breeders and owners do give a great deal of thought to their horse’s future wellbeing and that they are given the best opportunity to enjoy a new life after racing.
On retirement from racing, most owners and trainers take great pride in ensuring their much-loved racehorses go to good homes, but sadly it is the few that don’t that are much
more likely to hit the headlines and appear in adverse stories on social media. Society now expects high standards of animal welfare, especially for horses used in sport where racing’s social licence to operate is being questioned. It has never been more important to address welfare concerns related to our sport.
We know that some horses can be more challenging than others to retrain as riding horses, and when some of them can end up in less experienced hands or changing owners several times, it is easy to see how welfare issues can arise. Some may be more suitable as non-ridden companions and others enjoy a second career in equine assisted services such as physical and mental therapy for people.
The Horse Welfare Board and Aftercare Funding Review highlighted a number of important areas that need to be addressed as a priority and last year, following a tendering process, RoR launched a Retraining Assessment Programme (RAP) to provide structured retraining for more difficult horses in their first step out of racing. The programme will not only allow us to monitor the future wellbeing of those horses but also provide more information on how many places and centres will be ultimately required to support the whole industry. Ensuring that this service is sustainable is essential. Nobody knows when they’re breeding or buying a racehorse whether it will require additional support at retirement or not, so there is considerable merit in designing a scheme where the collective industry contributes to a central fund to cater for the few.
We look forward to continuing to share the success stories of former racehorses, as well as providing updates on the RAP and other important aspects of RoR’s work. n
For more information or to make a donation visit: ror.org.uk
David Catlow, Managing Director, provides an update on Retraining of Racehorses (RoR)David Catlow Gold Cup winner CONEYGREE , enjoying his second career. Image courtesy of Hannah Cole Photography
Few enough manage to ride and train successfully at the highest level, and far fewer have done so concurrently, as Charlie Swan did for five years before retiring from the saddle at Aintree on Grand National day 20 years ago. The first jockey to ride 1,000 winners over jumps in Ireland, where he was champion jockey nine times, he enjoyed fabulous associations with racing greats like Istabraq and Danoli and then won more Grade 1s in his second career. In nine Grand Nationals he came closest when second in the infamous void race of 1993, a record which saw him recognised as the greatest Irish-based jump jockey of the modern era not to win the race, but he enjoyed plenty of success elsewhere at the meeting and won the Aintree Hurdle four times.
Interview: Graham Dench
Iwas going to retire after riding a winner on the Friday of Aintree on a horse I trained for JP [McManus] called Patriot Games, but I had two booked rides the following day and didn’t want to let anyone down. I fell at the last on the first of them, but then in the Aintree Hurdle I rode Like-A-Butterfly, who I’d won a Supreme on, and I came back to a great reception after she finished third. By then I was only riding over hurdles, having chosen to do so to try and get a few more years out of it and to stay sound for Istabraq. But that meant I was out of the running for championships, and with Istabraq long gone it wasn’t quite the same. I was training more horses too and my son Harry was on the way, so it was a combination of things.
When I rode Cahervillahow in the void Grand National, Mouse Morris had told me that his owner Mrs Valentine had promised me half the prize-money if we won. There was no way I was going to stop riding while there was even the smallest chance the result would stand. I’ll admit we had a fair idea it wouldn’t, but it was a strange day, with a lot of protesters around, and it was the second fastest National ever, so it rode a proper race. I thought Cahervillahow had no chance of getting around as he was such an unlucky horse – second in the Thyestes, beaten a short-head in the Irish National
and disqualified in the Whitbread – but he gave me a great ride and we finished second to Esha Ness before they voided the result.
I’ve loved the Grand National since watching my father ride in it in L’Escargot’s year [1975] when I was just seven, but I wasn’t lucky in it. I was never closer than fifth apart from the void race, and although I got round in my first six rides I didn’t in my last three. I used to slag my dad that he was riding so long that he’d tripped up his own horse, an outsider called Zimulator, having led to the fourth. He liked to tell me that you are not a man unless you make the running in the National, so I made it one year on one of Martin Pipe’s, Riverside Boy. I was tempted to give him two fingers to the camera when we jumped the same fence!
I loved riding at Liverpool. People say it’s tight, but they should ride around some of the tracks in Ireland! I had a lot of luck there, particularly in the Aintree Hurdle. It used to be a good race for a novice, and after Danoli won it straight after his win in the SunAlliance I told Aidan [O’Brien] to do the same with Urubande, and he also won both races. Istabraq was beaten in it by Pridwell after his first Champion Hurdle, but I didn’t give him a great ride. It was a filthy wet day and I did neither one thing nor the other. I probably should have made it, as he was quite keen, and it’s a race I’d like to have ridden again. When he went back a year later it was one of his most impressive wins.
I trained for another 12 years after I stopped riding and I loved it. I had great owners like JP, John Magnier and Gigginstown, but my accountant kept telling me that if I didn’t have 50 horses I wasn’t making money, and I had only 38. It’s strange – you feel as if you are charging a lot, but you actually aren’t
charging enough, as there’s so much expense involved, especially if you have your own gallops and so on to maintain.
Nowadays I buy horses for JP in France, and I also buy National Hunt foals and yearlings to sell as three-year-olds in partnership with my brother-in-law Norman Williamson, and Tim Hyde and Timmy senior. The JP job involves a lot of trips to France to Auteuil and Compiegne, but it tends to go in cycles of three months so I’m not travelling all the time. We are trying to buy good horses, not just horses who can win races, and the first one was Defi Du Seuil. I bought Espoir D’Allen, who won his Champion Hurdle by 15 lengths and was sick the only time he was ever beaten, as well as Epatante, but I’ve bought some bad ones too!
My son Harry is doing well as an amateur now. He’s riding out for Gordon Elliott and John Patrick Ryan and juggling that with a medical science degree at Trinity He’s really enjoying it, but he’s quite heavy and I think he’s hoping to get a good job out of his degree and then to ride as an amateur like Patrick Mullins and Jamie Codd. I’m sure he’ll do the right thing as he has plenty of brains.
I think the whip rule changes were very badly timed. It’s done now, though, and the lads must knuckle down. It’s not easy, counting how many times you’ve used the whip, keeping it below shoulder height, and not using it out of stride. When you are trying to win the race you can get over excited and lose count; it’s especially difficult for the younger guys, but it would definitely be dangerous to ride without a stick, as horses would run out or stop. There has to be a happy medium. The hardest part now is the possibility of disqualification – imagine winning the Grand National and having to wait days to hear if you are going to keep the race.
Harry Angel’s new sprint star Al Dasim.
Night Of Thunder ’s extraordinar y mare Highf ield Princess.
Both of Profitable’s latest Group winners, the juvenile Wed and sprinter Mitbaahy.
Iffraaj’s Champion British three-year-old of 2022, My Prospero.
All of them conceived in May or June and proof that some of the best ideas come at the last minute. Had a brainwave for one of your mares? Call us..!