Hitch Your Wagon for the Stallion Trails

There is an undertone of negativity surrounding horseracing these days, almost all of which is generated by its participants and followers, and greatly exacerbated by the increasingly unpleasant arena that is social media. Where once Twitter was fun and we all gained excellent insight into trainers' yards and, for some, their sense of humour, now X marks the spot at which we should perhaps consciously uncouple from twits and trolls.

Let's get out more. And where better to start than by hitching a ride on the stallion trails? This Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the two-day ITM Irish Stallion Trail which was started in response to the rising popularity of Normandy's La Route des Etalons, which made its debut in 2011 and this year takes place on January 20 and 21.

A recent house move by my old Pacemaker boss Julian Muscat meant that I was gifted a huge pile of Stud & Stable magazines dating back to the 1960s. I've always held firmly to the belief that time spent reading is never time wasted, and only daily deadlines have dragged me away from this pile which has so far been a source of delight and education in equal measure. After all, the best way to avoid present unpleasantness is to bury oneself in the past. It's not only a great diversion, but also a reminder that the problems we face now are not that much different to those faced 50 or 100 years ago. Open up any edition of the Bloodstock Breeders' Review and you're likely to find someone bemoaning the fact that stallions are covering too many mares, though too many 50 years ago was 60 instead of 40. There may well be some grave-spinning at the current book sizes.

In the May 1968 edition of Stud & Stable, at the price of seven shillings and sixpence and with a rather nice cover painting of Lord Leverhulme on a hunter surrounded by mares and a lurcher, there can be found a report by Michael Ross on what was perhaps the first unofficial 'route des etalons'. Ross's tour of Normandy was a bit more of a beano than this correspondent's has been in recent years. He spent a whole week driving around with two pals, visiting 32 studs and inspecting 66 stallions. Impressive. 

Some of those mentioned are now no longer in operation as Thoroughbred studs but, comfortingly, a good number of them live on. We hear of Mme Couturié's Haras du Mesnil, where the French Guineas winner Blue Tom (Fr) had recently taken up duties alongside the farm's most famous resident and fellow Classic winner, Right Royal (Fr). These days, Couturié's grandson Henri Devin and his wife Antonia keep the Mesnil name in lights and they have recently taken charge of the G1 Champion S. winner Bay Bridge (GB) to stand alongside the popular Doctor Dino (Fr).

Ross also calls in at Haras de Mortrée, which he describes as “one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year”. He is shown around by the young stud manager Antoine Bozo. Sound familiar? Bozo, who later managed Haras du Mézeray and died in 2020 at the age of 83, was the father of Henri Bozo of Ecurie des Monceaux, which can also be described as one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year.

I can almost hear you thinking “get to the point”, so let's try. This Friday and Saturday 37 farms in Ireland will throw open their doors to visitors, with 156 stallions on show, from the properly established to the up-and-coming, and of course the latest intake, which includes Paddington (GB), Good Guess (GB), Pyledriver (GB) and Native Trail (GB). If you've missed Authorized (Ire), sire of the wonderful Tiger Roll (Ire), since he left Britain for France then Turkey, he has recently been repatriated to the land of his birth and you can call in to see him at Capital Stud, one of Ireland's newest stallion operations. 

It is certainly worth checking out the informative Irish Stallion Trail pages on the ITM website to plan your route. Registration is suggested, and is compulsory for visitors to Coolmore, and not all studs are open both days. You will find opening hours under the listing for each stud. 

They say that there is no point getting older if you don't get a little wiser. I don't have an abundance of wisdom to impart generally but as a veteran of stallion trails I would say that less is more (and by that I don't necessarily mean when it comes to the generous hospitality on offer).

When these initiatives first started I took the view that I had to try to see as many studs as possible all in one weekend. Big mistake. Approach this weekend as if it's merely part one: you can always return next year. Study the map and try to pick a few within reasonable proximity to each other so you can properly appreciate not just the stallions, but also the farms and their surrounding countryside, chatting with fellow visitors, and of course the aforementioned hospitality. 

In previous years I have toured with Nancy Sexton in Ireland and Alix Choppin in France, and far be it from me to question my dear friends' navigation skills but we spent an awful lot of time attempting to find Ballylinch Stud and Haras de Bonneval respectively. Let's just say we had them surrounded.

The time wasted negotiating three-point turns in country lanes in Co Kilkenny in particular happened to be in the year that the stallion trail coincided with the Bacchanalian gathering otherwise known as the ITBA Awards. The long hours on the road, culminating in a dram or two of Maurice Burns's whiskey during our last port of call at Rathasker Stud, meant a shamefully early departure from the dance floor, though in our defence the dancing at the ITBA Awards never really starts until the wee small hours at the earliest.

If you manage to see Workforce (GB), Waldgeist (GB) and Sottsass (Fr) in Ireland this weekend, in France a week later you can view the latest winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Ace Impact (Ire), who drew plenty of visitors during Arqana's Breeding Stock Sale in early December. He is the most expensive new stallion in the country and is bound to ensure that Haras de Beaumont remains busy during the route des etalons, which includes 20 studs and 97 stallions. 

The French TBA has compiled another excellent website with a full list of farms and stallions, as well as that all-important map. Depending on which studs you would like to visit there is often quite a bit of driving to be done, but even in gloomy January a tour through Calvados country and beyond does wonders to lift the spirits.

Back on that first official route des etalons in 2011, Elusive City topped France's list of stallions at a covering fee of €15,000. It is not simply this initiative which has helped to revive the French breeding industry, though it is easy to believe that it has helped. That was also the first year Siyouni (Fr) stood on the Aga Khan Studs roster, at an introductory fee of €7,000. Now he's top of the pops and commands the lofty nomination price of €200,000. They were shrewd breeders who backed him in the early days. 

Guessing who will follow in his wake is all part of the fun of being involved in the breeding industry. So let's leave the naysayers to their doom-scrolling and take to the great outdoors to see if we can narrow it down ourselves with some important research on the stallion trails.

 

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Group 1 Winner Bay Bridge Retired To Stand At Haras Du Mesnil

Bay Bridge (GB) has been retired to stand at the Devin family's Haras du Mesnil in France, where he will join Doctor Dino (Fr) and Telecaster (GB) on the roster for 2024. 

The Group 1-winning son of New Bay (GB) will stand for a fee of €6,000 while James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud are set to stay in as partners in the 5-year-old. 

Bay Bridge won seven of his 16 starts for Sir Michael Stoute and reached a career-high rating of 122 in amassing almost £1.3 million in prize-money.

His career highlight came when winning the G1 British Champion S. at Ascot, where he downed the previously unbeaten Baaeed (GB), with Derby hero Adayar (Ire) also a noteworthy scalp.

Along with his victory at the highest level, Bay Bridge landed a pair of Group 3 contests over 1m2f and 1m4f, respectively. In winning the G3 Brigadier Gerard, Bay Bridge beat the high-class Mostahdaf (Ire) and Addeybb (Ire).

Bay Bridge is the fourth foal and one of three winners for his dam, the Multiplex (GB) mare Hayyona (GB), herself a half-sister to G2 Prix Eugene Adam winner Shimraan (Fr) (Rainbow Quest).

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‘His Training Has Been Very Smooth Up To Now’: Desert Crown Set for Sandown Return

NEWMARKET, UK–Oh, to be in England now that April's there. So wrote Robert Browning in 1845, though it is unconfirmed that this had anything to do with Classic trials. An unusually wet and cold April did little to lift the spirits this year, so we shall fast-forward to another line of his lovely poem. And after April, when May follows.

May is becoming more marvellous by the day. There's York, of course, and who doesn't love York? It is a racecourse which comes close to perfection, from its location in one of the country's most beautiful cities, to the welcoming folk who greet you at the entrance, the candy-striped pillars of the old stand, superb racing, and last but very much not least, the plumptious Yorkshire puddings in the press room.

The results of the Musidora and the Dante made the great puzzles of Epsom even more intriguing with now just a fortnight left to ponder. The only one black mark in York's book, and that of many other tracks, is the tendency to play loud music as the winners return to scale. We were blasted with Train's irritating Hey, Soul Sister after the Musidora. At least if Passenger had won the Dante we could have had a decent bit of Iggy Pop. 

Passenger, who dead-heated for third with Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) behind Andrew Balding's The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), didn't get a clear run when he needed it and, having only first set foot on a racecourse to win the Wood Ditton, the son of Ulysses (Ire) does not currently hold a Derby entry. He surely soon will, and, if supplemented, he will reoppose another Ulysses colt in White Birch (Ire), who was an impressive runner-up in the Dante after winning the G3 Ballysax S. and will be a very welcome contender at Epsom for John Joseph Murphy. Twenty-one colts remain in the Derby after the May 19 deadline for scratchings, with 24 fillies standing their ground for the Oaks. 

Passenger, owned and bred by the Niarchos family's Flaxman Holdings, who also bred his sire, has a profile not unlike that 12 months ago of his stable-mate Desert Crown (GB). The word had got out about the latter ahead of last year's Dante, however, and he arrived at York with a justifiable buzz about him. 

Sarah Denniff, one of Sir Michael Stoute's most trusted lieutenants, rarely leaves Desert Crown's side except to let him gallop, as he did on Friday morning. A video produced recently to celebrate Stoute's induction into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, included a reminiscence from Denniff as to an upward shift in mood from “the boss” after a key piece of work for Desert Crown ahead of the Dante. Those in Stoute's team who know the trainer well may have been able to read into his musical accompaniment to Friday morning's work. He was humming while he waited for the gallopers, and later performed his own brilliant impression of a kazoo without the need of the instrument in question. 

Stoute, his assistant trainer James Savage, and Saeed Suhail's racing team of Bruce Raymond and Philip Robinson were among those watching on the green-carpeted slice of heaven that is the Limekilns. In a fleeting moment, Desert Crown breezed past in the heady company of Bay Bridge (GB) and Solid Stone (Ire). Richard Kingscote was back on the horse who gave him his Derby win, while Kevin Bradshaw led the gallop initially aboard Solid Stone until Desert Crown eased clear of his work companions. Bay Bridge bowled along readily under a motionless Ted Durcan.

Both Desert Crown and Solid Stone were subsequently given entries for Thursday's G3 Brigadier Gerard S. at Sandown, a race which could potentially see the return of last year's Prix de Diane winner Nashwa (GB) and Hukum (GB), who, like Desert Crown, has not been seen at the races since last year at Epsom, where he won the G1 Coronation Cup.

Issuing an update later in the day to TDN, James Savage said, “That was Desert Crown's last strong piece of work and we've been lucky to use some lovely ground, with the Round Gallop on the Limekilns this morning and [Newmarket] racecourse last Saturday. His training has been very smooth up to now, so fingers crossed that we stay healthy for Sandown.”

Of the eight entries for the Brigadier Gerard, he added, “It looks a very strong renewal this year but it is a great starting point for us.”

Solid Stone, now seven and an eight-time winner for Saeed Suhail, won last year's G2 Huxley S. at Chester and he too is heading to Sandown.

Savage continued, “He's a hard horse to place and with the Huxley Stakes being so soft we didn't go there. Again, it's an ideal place for him to start, and he can probably go to the Wolferton [at Royal Ascot] after that.”

James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud's Bay Bridge, who was third on his seasonal resumption in the G1 Prix Ganay, could head to Ireland for the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. 

Savage continued, “He is a fit horse and he generally works on his own but Sir Michael wanted him to have a bit of company this morning, so it was just a leg-stretcher. He will work early next week and then hopefully go to Ireland, all being well, next weekend.”

He also noted that Passenger has come out of the Dante in good order. “He didn't have a hard race,” he said. “I'm just looking at him out in the paddock now. He has taken it really well. It was a bit frustrating but we have learnt that he can be rated with the top three-year-olds, so we're happy.”

 

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‘He’s Just Bombproof’: View From the Stoute Stable as Desert Crown Nears Return

In the modern era, only Aidan O'Brien has trained more Derby winners than Sir Michael Stoute. The latter became almost instantly synonymous with the great race, and indeed woven into Derby folklore, when he first won it back in 1981. Few will need reminding that that was with Shergar (Ire), the horse whose infamy threatens to overshadow his brilliance, especially as the years wear on and the number of people who were there to witness Shergar's superiority first hand decreases.

Forty-one years later, and with the not insignificant names of Shahrastani, Kris Kin, North Light (Ire), and Workforce (GB) creating stepping stones to bridge that gap, Stoute was back at Epsom with Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). The colt's rise to the Classic roll of honour had been swift: November maiden victory as a juvenile, straight to the G2 Dante S. six months later, thence to the Derby itself. Few trainers would be so assured in their assessment of the nascent ability of a young colt to have taken such a bold path, but then few have the legion of experience accrued by Stoute in his half century with a training licence. 

Fifty not out: the cricket-mad trainer would probably approve of that statistic, and Desert Crown became his sixth Derby winner 50 years and 37 days after Stoute had saddled his first ever winner (at Newmarket). But his remarkable innings is not defined solely by success at Epsom, where he has also sent out the Oaks winners Fair Salinia (GB) and Unite (Ire), as well as five winners of the Coronation Cup, including the brilliant Singspiel (Ire), a forerunner of the globetrotting superstars that are more commonplace these days.

While later-maturing, classy middle-distance horses have long been a hallmark of the Stoute stable, so has the longevity of the key personnel involved at his Freemason Lodge yard. Stoute's two most recent assistant trainers, Owen Burrows and James Horton, are now training in their own right, and into the latter's shoes has stepped James Savage, but not before a lengthy stint which has incorporated almost every role therein.

“I was apprenticed to Mark Tompkins and Jeremy Noseda and I just could tell I wasn't a very good jockey,” says Savage, who joined Stoute in 1999 and whose no-nonsense modesty is typified in this one statement. “I just thought, if I'm not going to be a jockey, then I want to go somewhere that I can build a career and work through the ranks.

“I was a stable lad here for many years, a work rider, then second head lad, learning from some really good experienced people. And then the travelling job came up and I went to so many places all over the world. When my daughter was two, the head lad option came up at [Stoute's former second yard] Beech Hurst. Then when James Horton moved on to train for John Dance the assistant trainer's job became available.”

He adds, “The boss likes to promote from within, I think as much to reward loyalty, and there was no change to anything when I became assistant because I've been here for so long, and if I don't know how the yard runs now, then I've been walking around with my eyes shut. So it was natural progression really.”

Going from a maiden to the Dante to the Derby is a very hard thing to do, but we were never concerned because he had the mentality to deal with it

Loyalty is a word which Savage returns to regularly when speaking about the man known as “the boss”. It can be equally applied to Desert Crown's owner Saeed Suhail, a longstanding patron of the stable, but with good reason. Desert Crown was Suhail's second Derby winner after Kris Kin. He also owned King's Best, one of five 2,000 Guineas winners trained by Stoute, the top sprinter Dream Of Dreams (Ire), and dual Group 1 winner Poet's Word (Ire) among a significant list of Pattern winners. All connected with the Stoute stable are now hoping that the luck can hold for Suhail as the bid to return Desert Crown to the races increases in tempo. So how is he?

“Our head girl, Sarah Denniff, who manages Desert Crown really well, commented the other day about how he's developed through his back and strengthened up,” says Savage. “He's really developing behind the saddle where he was just a little weak last year. Going from a maiden to the Dante to the Derby is a very hard thing to do, but we were never concerned because he had the mentality to deal with it.”

He continues, “He's just bombproof. You go to the Derby and the first thing you think of is, 'How's the horse going to handle it?' We've been to a few now and some of them have taken it really well and some of them have just looked a bit edgy. You just knew he was going to go there and be professional.”

A minor foot injury in July meant that the Derby was the last we saw of Desert Crown, but he is back cantering in Newmarket after recuperating nearby at Sheikh Mohammed's Dalham Hall Stud.

“He was extremely well managed up at Dalham Hall during his rehab,” notes Savage. “It was as beneficial for his mind as it was for him physically. It's a long time to be just on a horse-walker or hand-led in a yard where horses are being trained and everything's happening, buzzing along. There, he had turnout, hand-walking and just a change of scenery really.

“Because of the time he had off, the build-up to his work has been in a slower manner than for a horse that's just had six weeks downtime from a season. It's been long and slow, but we're at half-speed work now, and he's in good condition.

“You can't make too many plans. You have to take it race by race, but the boss likes to start a horse like that at Sandown. The Gordon Richards will come too soon, but the Brigadier Gerard is an option and would tell us where we are after his first race.”

Stoute does indeed like Sandown as a starting point, and it was in that Group 3 contest last year that many of us first woke up to the abundant talent of Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}), who later in the year gilded the season for his trainer when beating Adayar (Ire) and Baaeed (GB) in the G1 QIPCO Champion S. Now five, he, too, remains in training for his breeder James Wigan and Ballylinch Stud.

“Everything is a hundred per cent, so we've just got to mind him,” Savage reports. “We went into the Champion Stakes quietly thinking we could beat Baaeed. We knew that Bay Bridge could be ridden positively and take the race to him early to really try and draw it out of him. Baaeed was the best turf horse in the world last year, and rightly so, but we were confident that day that we had Bay Bridge absolutely spot on.”

He adds, “We could probably look at something like the Gordon Richards at Sandown on April 28 to get him going. Unfortunately he would have a seven-pound penalty, so the boss is just thinking carefully.”

The stable is also home to Bay Bridge's three-year old half-sister by Territories (Ire), named Stormy Sea (GB), with a juvenile colt, Lucky Hour (GB) (Time Test {GB}), on the way in. Their dam Hayonna (GB) (Multiplex {GB}) foaled a full-brother to Bay Bridge on February 5.

Nostrum is a huge horse and he surprised us how he was handling his work early on

Desert Crown and Bay Bridge will naturally be at the forefront of the stable's older-horse division, along with Cheveley Park Stud's five-year-old mare Potapova (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who Savage says is “training really well.” Among the Classic generation, Juddmonte's Nostrum (GB) (Kingman {GB}), must come in for strong consideration following his win in the G3 Somerville Tattersall S. and subsequent third, 16 days later, in the G1 Dewhurst behind another exciting Juddmonte colt, Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

“He's a huge horse and he surprised us how he was handling his work early on,” says Savage of Nostrum. “He found it all very easy so we pressed on a bit more and he was fairly impressive first time out at Sandown. Like the two horses we were just talking about, he's got this bombproof mentality; nothing stresses him.

“We wanted to go to Doncaster, which would have given us a longer gap to the Dewhurst, but we just weren't completely happy with his scope so we were forced to go to Newmarket, which left the gap between the two races quite short. We were very happy with the run in the Dewhurst and I think it'll work out to be a very good race because I think the winner's very smart. But we've got a nice, clean run now and we'll see where we go. He's training well.”

While Nostrum, who made his debut in July, was an earlier sort than Desert Crown, Savage says that Stoute remains resolute in not wishing to test his youngsters before they are ready, despite the increasing clamour in racing generally for early success.

“That's not something that we feel any pressure to do,” he says. “Generally the horses we get sent by our owners are horses that are not precocious anyway. You get the odd one, and we do try if they've got a precocious pedigree to get them there, but we certainly don't ask them to run before they can walk as such. 

James Savage and Infinite Cosmos

“Our two-year olds are now just starting to do a little bit more work, say two [canters] on Warren Hill at the weekend, and some of them might just have to back off and some of them might go forward, but they'll tell you.”

In the case of Desert Crown, Ryan Moore had as much of a say in regard to his debut as the horse himself.

“Ryan rode him work and there was one turf meeting left at Nottingham, and I remember saying we could get him out at Kempton,” Savage recalls. “Ryan said, 'Run this horse on the turf.' I remember thinking it would be fairly soft but we ran him, he went to the front and he was running green, so Richard [Kingscote] just had to keep him straight and concentrating, but he went again on that ground.”

With Moore, Kingscote, and jockey-turned-bloodstock agent Ted Durcan all riding work regularly for Stoute, he does not lack good feedback.

“They're such a valuable part of the team,” Savage says. “We try and get the boys on everything in the spring, and Ryan will come in every day when he's available, Ted's here most days, and we try and switch all their rides so we get a bit of feedback on more or less everything in the yard before we step up the fast work. But their opinions are very valuable, especially with the two-year olds when you're trying to get somewhere, to back off or go forward, maybe run here, not there.”

While Savage's time with Stoute has spanned four of the six Derby winners, he has also looked after two Derby place-getters, Tartan Bearer (Ire) and Golan (Ire). Both were homebreds for the much-missed Ballymacoll Stud. Golan also won the 2,000 Guineas and returned at four to land the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.

“When you think of Ballymacoll, it makes you realise how many owner-breeders unfortunately aren't with us any more. Even smaller breeders like John Greetham, such great horses they gave us over the years,” he says.

Another owner-breeder who will be sorely missing from Stoute's list is Sir Eveleyn de Rothschild, who died last November at the age of 91. His Southcourt Stud bloodlines, which have been seen to great effect for Freemason Lodge through such top-class horses as Crystal Ocean (GB) and Notnowcato (GB), live on at the stable through two fillies, Crystal Caprice (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Infinite Cosmos (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who were held back from last year's partial dispersal by Sir Evelyn's sons.

The three-year-old Infinite Cosmos has raced just once, when beaten a short-head at Doncaster last October, but she is clearly one who is putting a spring in Savage's step each morning. “I'm very excited about her,” he says, giving away rather more than the boss might be inclined to do. “I think she could be quite special and make up into a stakes horse.”

Having had Golan in his care at the start of his tenure as a stable lad, Savage is enjoying the prospect of Nostrum's season ahead in his far more senior position.

“It's very exciting having a Guineas horse in the yard,” he says. “And obviously getting Desert Crown and Bay Bridge back on the track and making plans for them is also very exciting. It's nice on a Tuesday looking at the early-closing entries and picking out Group 1s in France and Ireland and so on.”

And along with those equine legends over two decades and counting, what has it been like working for a trainer who can certainly be put in the legendary bracket?

Savage thinks carefully about his reply. It is clearly not that he is agonising over saying what might be seen as 'the right thing', rather that he wants to be sure that he is doing Stoute justice from his almost unique view of the stable's inner workings.

“Words are used quite loosely, but he's a bit of a genius really when it comes to training racehorses, isn't he? A horse might go around the round gallop once as a two-year-old and he can see something that will probably come to fruition in 12 months' time. He visualises the development and where a horse could end up,” he says.

“I always thought it would be a good job as a jockey to ride for him, as good a job as it is for me to be his assistant because he doesn't tie you down to things. You do what you think he wants you to do and you're always rewarded with back-up and loyalty. He's an incredibly easy person to work for, and I would think the jockeys would probably say the same thing, too.”

Savage adds, “He has his way of letting horses do things naturally; mature naturally. Hence his success for all these years. He's very patient, with horses and people. He's still as hungry as ever and I think getting so many nice two-year-olds this year from owners that have been longstanding and loyal is very positive.”

 

 

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