Kirsten Rausing received a standing ovation at the Cartier Racing Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 9, as she was presented with the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit to honor her lifelong involvement in the racing industry.
Rausing has not only excelled as an owner and breeder since starting out as a 15-year-old in her native Sweden but also served as an integral figure in the sport's governance and administration. In addition, she has provided significant funding for a host of causes in racing and wider society through the Alborada Trust.
A spectacular 2022 for the owner of Lanwades Stud saw Alpinista carry her colors to glory in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in addition to Eldar Eldarov providing her with a first UK Classic success as a breeder in the Cazoo St Leger.
On receiving the award from Marcus Armytage of The Daily Telegraph and Laurent Feniou, Managing Director Cartier UK, Rausing said: “I'm totally overwhelmed by it all. Many, many years ago and unlike my Viking forebears, I came to East Anglia in peace. Like some of them, I made the detour by way of Ireland. So when I left my native Sweden I was very fortunate to be able to spend some formative years in Ireland, and I still see that wonderful emerald isle as my spiritual home where I have many, many great friends. I'm also extremely grateful to those that have gone before me, that were my mentors in the old days – Margareta Wettermark, Alec Head, Roland de Chambure and most of all the late Captain Tim Rogers of Airlie Stud. They all taught me a few aspects of the international Thoroughbred breeding industry, which stand me in good stead still to this day.
“I have now been in Newmarket for nearly 42 years, it will be on Dec. 1. In that time, we seem to have produced the winners of over 2000 races, including 28 Group One races since the Dewhurst of 1984 with Kala Dancer – one of a crop of five yearlings who also included Petoski, winner of the following year's King George and Queen Elizabeth. I had two Group One winners in a crop of five yearlings and I thought, 'this is easy peasy'. I couldn't understand why the Brits kept telling me how difficult it all was, breeding racehorses. I thought, 'this is fantastically facile'. It took me 25 years to live it down. That put manners on me, as my Irish friends would say.
“But none of this would have been at all possible but for my wonderful home team, my great team at Lanwades St Simon and Staffordstown Studs, many of whom have been with me for 25, 30 and more years. Some of whom are here tonight. Julian Lloyd, who has been running Staffordstown for 30 years – but we have been friends for much longer than that, and I am immensely grateful to you for your skill, experience, great horsemanship and friendship. Alastair Watson, who has been with us at Lanwades for I've slightly lost count, but it must be 35 years, and my wonderful, marvelous trainers who have of course contributed to in particular this year's great results. Alpinista, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, Sandrine by Andrew Balding, a good few other, very good results this year. During the last year we have bred four individual Group One winners of six Group One races in three countries on two continents. But there are a few weeks left of the year, so who knows!
“Finally, I should also pay tribute to my great friend Rae Guest, whom I think he and I possibly represent the longest racing association here at least tonight, I'm guessing. Rae and I have been together since 1971 when he rode a very good filly called Highlight (SWE) for his uncle Nelson Guest, who trained in Copenhagen and this filly was champion two-year-old. Rae this year has trained her seventh generation descendant Melodramatica to win.
“My longevity in this game now means that we have had a slight changing of the guard, succeeding my great friend the late Lord John Fitzgerald, Richard Frisby has looked after my horses in training and very ably managed them and the liaison between Lanwades and various trainers and of course Julian Lloyd at Staffordstown has in turn been succeeded by young John Oxx. To all of those mentioned and some that I may not have mentioned, but still bear very much in mind, I would like to express my very sincere, heartfelt thanks for all of your important parts in mine, Lanwades St Simon and Staffordstown's success. Thanks again to Cartier for this wonderful evening.”
Baaeed received the evening's premier equine prize, the Cartier Horse of the Year Award, and was also crowned the Cartier Older Horse following an outstanding season that saw the son of 2009 Cartier Horse of the Year Sea The Stars annex four G1 races. Angus Gold, racing manager for Shadwell, received the Cartier Older Horse award from Kim Parker.
Gold said: “On behalf of Sheikha Hissa and her family I would just like to thank Cartier, Laurent Feniou and his team. It's amazing that here we are for the 32nd year. As Chris [Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud] rightly said, we never take for granted your support of our industry and we thank you so much for giving us another wonderful night here tonight to honour our champions. To the readers of the Racing Post and the Daily Telegraph, and everybody who voted for this horse, an enormous thank you to them. And just a quick tribute to all those behind the scenes who work so tirelessly so I can stand here tonight to pick up this trophy.
“To all the team at Shadwell and Derrinstown Studs, who raised this horse, obviously to William, Maureen and all their wonderful team at Somerville Lodge. They did such a fantastic job with him, Ricky his devoted lad who looked after him beautifully and shared the work riding with Michael Hills, lovely to have a man of Michael's experience there to keep us all calm when things were getting testing. I went to see him work one day, it was actually July Cup morning, and by that stage we were thinking of stepping up to a mile and a quarter. I said to Michael, 'are you happy this horse will stay a mile and a quarter?' and he said, 'he will stay any distance you want – but I wish he was in the July Cup today, he has that much speed!'.
“A big thank you to the lucky man who sat on top of him most of the time on the racecourse, Jim Crowley, who did a brilliant job, I'm sure there was pressure, certainly towards the end but he handled it beautifully and never put a foot wrong on the horse. Not forgetting Dane O'Neill, who rode him on his first two starts and put him on the right foot, and the horse himself obviously. We were so blessed to have him. As you all know, he had a great turn of foot, but an extraordinary temperament, the most positive, charming character. He was the ultimate professional and made everybody's job so much easier.
“And finally, if I may, just to thank the man who made it all possible, who sadly wasn't here in person to see the horse race. As a lot of you here will know, Sheikh Hamdan adored his breeding, absolutely passionate. He used to get films of all his foals and yearlings sent to him in Dubai and he would sit there late at night and watch them all, then ring the stud managers the next day either to praise them or criticize for something. He loved it from the bottom up. One my favorite memories of him was seeing him in Ireland, he was never more relaxed than when he was on his studs, walking round in his Arab robes and it was what the Irish would call a 'grand soft day', which meant a howling gale of about 40mph, and his dishdasha when I walked around the corner, peering over the fence, and as you can imagine the dishdasha was losing its battle with the wind and the yearlings caught sight of this and of course they had gone at 100mph in every direction. By the time I got to him, he had a grin from ear to ear and was absolutely loving it. He would have been so proud of this horse. It's the culmination of his life's work in racing and breeding. And he would have been very proud of Sheikha Hissa and his family who have taken on his mantle, so I would like to dedicate this award to Sheikh Hamdan.”
Baaeed's trainer William Haggas joined Gold, assistant racing manager Richard Hills and Shadwell retained jockey Jim Crowley to be presented with the Cartier Horse of the Year award from Laurent Feniou, Managing Director Cartier UK.
Haggas said: “Angus has said everything about the poignancy of this horse. I would like to reiterate what a marvellous temperament the horse had, what a fantastic turn of foot he had and he was a privilege to train. I kept saying to Jim, 'let's try and enjoy this horse because we are never going to find another like this'. Although it was tough, it was a hugely enjoyable experience. What a fantastic horse. And I hope his second life will be just as successful. The last time we won one of these was in 2000, so I hope it's not another 20-odd years, and I hope Cartier is still here and we will be trying to get here. I would just like to finally say a big thank you to my darling wife, who has had a horrendous year. She puts in so much effort, so much graft and deserves to be here, not me. Thank you, darling.”
Princess Zahra Aga Khan was presented with the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt award by Alan Byrne for Vadeni, who captured the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club and the Coral-Eclipse in addition to finishing second in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Vadeni's trainer Jean-Claude Rouget said: “Vadeni did something special in the Prix du Jockey Club and that was why we decided to go to Sandown, where he won well too. After that, we gave him a little break and he was a bit short of condition at Leopardstown, before running well again in the Arc. He is not tired with this season and I hope that we can be champion next year.
“We gave him a quiet race in the Prix de Fontainebleau and he won the Prix de Guiche very easily, so we were quite confident with a good draw in the Prix du Jockey Club, and the horse did the job. We had no choice but to go for the Eclipse because we didn't go for the Grand Prix de Paris, so we decided to go to Sandown. For me, he is better over a mile and a quarter but he showed in the Arc that he could stay a mile and a half on very bad ground.
“This is the second time I have come to the awards after Almanzor was successful. It's not easy to compete with the big operations like Godolphin and Coolmore – it's not easy to get horses like that – so we are very proud to win this trophy with Vadeni.”
Inspiral picked up the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award following an excellent season that saw the Cheveley Park homebred score in the Coronation Stakes and Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois.
Champion jockey William Buick presented the award to Cheveley Park owners Patricia Thompson, Katie Woodward and Richard Thompson, along with managing director Chris Richardson.
Richardson said: “Patricia Thompson has asked that I say a few words, so on her behalf and that of her family and all of us at Cheveley Park Stud, the whole team in Newmarket, we thank very much Laurent Feniou, his colleagues at Cartier and of course the judging committee and all those who voted for Inspiral for this wonderful award on this magnificent evening. Cartier's support of thoroughbred racing is very much appreciated and by no means taken for granted. Huge thanks go to John and Thady Gosden and their team, to Frankie Dettori and of course Inspiral's lad for their contribution towards making Inspiral the filly that she is. It's exciting that Inspiral will be racing next year. Cheveley Park Stud first won a Cartier award back in 1994 when Gay Gallanta, who won the Cheveley Park Stakes, won it as the two-year-old filly. We also enjoyed further success with Russian Rhythm a few years later. It is very satisfying for us all at Cheveley Park Stud to have bred Inspiral. To have her win back-to-back Cartier awards is truly special – and thankfully gets me off the hook for now, following the tremendous season we are enjoying with the National Hunt horses over the jumps!”
Owner/breeder John Fairley and trainer John Quinn received the Cartier Sprinter award from Ashleigh Wicheard for Highfield Princess, who posted a trio of sensational victories in the Arc Prix Maurice de Gheest, Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes and Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five Stakes.
Fairley said: “Well, she deserved it, didn't she? Whether the owner deserves it is another matter! But the horse, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Cartier hadn't brought the horse in to take the award herself. What an amazing year we have had with her. Three Group Ones in three different countries and a trip to the Breeders' Cup as well. I sent the mare over to France because my friend Fabienne [Simoes de Almeida] runs a stud near Deauville, and she has always been so good with our horses. Not that we are big breeders, but she's always had the odd mare of ours and out came Highfield Princess. When we went back this year to win the Prix Maurice de Gheest relatively easily on soft ground, the French couldn't quite understand it. The Paris Turf said, 'Francais? Anglais?'. That was the start of what has become a fan club for the princess because it so happened that my grandchildren were on a holiday in the Isle of Wight and came over on the ferry. After that, it was impossible to keep them away. They are only six, eight and 10, but of course they had to go to York, then of course they had to go to the Curragh and then they had to go to America – they've only just come back. Never let school interfere with education. I see her everyday out of my kitchen window and of course it's all down to the tremendous way that her career has been planned by John Quinn and his son and the way she has been ridden by Jason Hart. The Irish crowd, I think were actually awe-struck when she won the Flying Five by nearly four lengths. We've got this lovely gang of people who look after her at Highfield in Yorkshire and are absolutely wonderful. So thank you to Cartier.”
Coolmore partnerships received two awards, with Kyprios taking the Cartier Stayer prize following an unbeaten 2022 that included an unprecedented sequence of victories in the Gold Cup, Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, Comer Group International Irish St Leger and Qatar Prix du Cadran.
Coolmore manager Christy Grassick, who was presented the award by Leo Powell, said: “On behalf of all the partners in Kyprios, John Magnier, Sue Magnier, Derrick [Smith] and Michael Tabor and Paul Smith and his team, and also Emily and Georg von Opel, and most importantly to Eva Haefner, who without Moyglare's involvement, this wouldn't have happened. I have to say, these awards are so precious to us all to be honest. You're reminded of the people that we've lost, this is an incredible industry and I think we are all so proud to be here to receive awards on behalf of the people that we represent. We have a tremendous industry and we are also very proud in our operation to have people like Aidan O'Brien, Ryan Moore and the team at Moyglare, people like Malachy Ryan. It's very important people behind the scenes are recognized.”
Blackbeard added to the Coolmore haul as he was crowned the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt thanks to G1 wins the Darley Prix Morny and Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes. Racing manager Kevin Buckley was presented the award by Rosie Tapner.
Buckley said: “We could not be more delighted to get an award at such a prestigious evening, which recognizes the fact that Blackbeard was such a top two-year-old.
“Blackbeard danced every dance. He ran eight times, starting off winning his maiden on April 8, and ran every month until September. That represents how tough and reliable he was. Winning the Middle Park was sensational but equally winning the Prix Morny, which emulated his sire No Nay Never, was a very satisfactory moment. Sadly, we are not going to see him on a racecourse next year, but he will be standing alongside his sire at Coolmore and we are all very excited about that.”
Andrew Rosen received the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly award from Anna Lisa Balding for Lezoo, who he shares in ownership with Marc Chan. The daughter of Zoustar rounded off a progressive season with a decisive success in the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes.
Rosen said: “After watching that video that opened the show, I can see why Marc Chan and I love horses and we love horseracing. We are truly honored and incredibly happy that Lezoo has won this year's Cartier award. I would like to thank the Cartier awards committee, the racing journalists and all the people that voted for Lezoo for these most prestigious awards. I was introduced to horseracing by my father, who raced the 1974 champion filly Chris Evert. I also, along with my family, bred and raced Chris Evert's grandson, champion Chief's Crown. It has been almost 40 years since then. I know how hard it is to get one, and what it means when you do. Let's hope Lezoo starts her own dynasty. One of the other great pleasures of the horse business is the people and team assembled behind these great horses. I am incredibly lucky to be doing this with a great partner in Marc Chan, who brings us incredible luck. None of this would have been possible without one of my best friends, Jamie McCalmont. He selected Lezoo at the Arqana two-year-old sale. Jamie is never far from a good horse and amazing to work with. Ralph Beckett, his wife Izzy, and the team at Kimpton Down are true professionals at the top of their game. Ralph has trained five individual Group One winners in the last year. Ralph, thank you for a great year and a job well done with Lezoo. This is my happiest moment in horseracing. Hopefully we can do it again next year.”
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