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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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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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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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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The 36-year-old is no newcomer to racing's main stage but until this past season he had to a degree been cast as a reliable sidekick to leading actors such as Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore. Dettori is one of only a few jockeys who is instantly identifiable by his first name alone, and in true 'Frankie style' the recent announcement of his retirement allows him a year-long celebratory tour that will doubtless be to the benefit of the sport, for Dettori is box office; a crowd-puller. Kingscote is quite the opposite, but only in personality, not when it comes to talent.

“I think that being introverted has probably made it that little bit harder to move my career forward,” he admits. “Because racing is the sort of sport where you have to integrate, you have to be involved with people. And I've noticed the last couple of years, particularly, the more outgoing people, the social people, are the people that get offered jobs and get moving forward just because they're out there. They're putting themselves out there, and I don't put myself out there a great deal.”

That could be about to change. In fact, in a way it already has. Kingscote's imminent departure for a winter riding stint in Florida came about from his recent trip to Bahrain, where he was runner-up in the G3 Bahrain International Trophy on Passion And Glory (Ire) for Godolphin. 

He explains, “I was having a few drinks with someone and they said, 'Would you be interested in going to America?' Usually, as soon as I've finished I'd scurry off to my room and wouldn't be seen again. So just being that little bit more outgoing and putting myself in that position, I've been offered a stint in America. Maybe I need to learn to be a little bit more of a people person. Doors open because you're putting yourself there, where I never really have, whether that's just shyness or the way I am, I don't really know, but maybe it's something I ought to start looking into.”

I think that being introverted has probably made it that little
bit harder to move my career forward

Kingscote became a Group 1-winning jockey back in 2014 when guiding Brown Panther to glory in the Irish St Leger during his days as stable jockey to Tom Dascombe. He also hit the top level again in the G1 Flying Five aboard Havana Grey (GB), who is now one of the most exciting young sires in Britain. His riding career, which is now closing in on 20 years, has been peppered with stakes wins, but it was 2022 which can be considered his true annus mirabilis as the name Richard Kingscote was added to that special roll of honour reserved for jockeys to have triumphed at Epsom in the Derby. 

Following his victory on Desert Crown (GB) he was quizzed about his relatively new association with one of the greatest Derby-winning trainers of all time, Sir Michael Stoute. 

“We get on well because neither of us likes to talk much,” was his response, and it is easy to see why Kingscote has fitted in so well at Stoute's Freemason Lodge, proving a more than able addition to the riding ranks when Ryan Moore is fulfilling his obligations for Ballydoyle. 

Desert Crown, who also won the G2 Dante S., has only ever been ridden in public by Kingscote, who has only twice partnered his second hugely significant winner of the year, Bay Bridge (GB). He won on the four-year-old on both occasions, including the G1 QIPCO Champion S., and it is easy to imagine the partnership remaining intact in the high-profile races which Bay Bridge will be contesting next year. 

Explaining his growing connection with Stoute following his departure from Dascombe's former base of Manor House Stables in Cheshire, he says, “Tom and I were together for a long time and it was a difficult decision to move on from there. He'd supported me so much and I had a good job that a lot of lads would've loved, and I did. I liked working with Tom, we got on very well and I had the opportunity to get on some nice horses over the years.”

He continues, “But it's very difficult to get hold of those horses, and I was lucky to get an opportunity with Sir Michael. Over the last four or five years, I had the odd couple of rides and winners for Sir Michael, and maybe two or three years ago I asked if I was in Newmarket would I be able to pop in and ride out.

“I've never be one to push myself forward and try stepping on people's toes and I don't like to be forceful or pushy. So I would never have been there too much, but if I stayed [in Newmarket], they were happy to have me in. And then I think with Covid, Sir Michael and Ryan were quite aware that Ryan may not be able to travel back and forward from Ireland as much as in normal years. So I don't know how it went or why I was picked, but I was asked if I'd become more involved and obviously I was delighted about that. I think for any jockey to be involved with a yard like Sir Michael's is a privilege. It's a big deal.”

Despite Kingscote's rising profile, and his impending arrival at Gulfstream Park being announced in a press release from the racecourse, we still don't know a huge amount about the jockey. When this is pointed out to him as we speak just before Christmas, he replies, “There's not much to know. But that's all right.”

He continues, “I'm quiet and I'm private. I prefer to stay at home. I'm actually out tonight to William Buick's party and tomorrow I'm going to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards. It's the first time I've been invited and now it's coming to it, I'd almost rather just stay at home, but I'm going anyway, because it's nice to be involved with those things; how often are you going to get invited to the Sports Personality of the Year? So I thought I'd give it a go.”

While he does undoubtedly keep a much lower profile than some of his weighing-room colleagues, Kingscote is an engaging interviewee. The only question he deflects is the unfair query as to which of Desert Crown or Bay Bridge he'd prefer to ride if he could only ride one (“I know which one it would be but it's not fair to say”) and he adds of his Derby winner, who is on the comeback trail from injury, “He's very exciting. I saw him about a month ago and he looks great. And he's got such a great temperament.”

Kingscote's most successful year numerically came in 2021 when he rode 128 winners, the fifth time he has reached three figures. In 2022 he is just shy of that mark on 98, and he has not ridden in Britain since signing off for a well-earned break with a winner at Lingfield on December 10. This year, however, has by any measure been his best yet on the racecourse. 

“The Derby was surreal and it was huge,” he recalls, before adding modestly, “But my horse was a steering job, so I think winning at Ascot, not having just the one Group 1 this year but also having the second one, just really cemented it a little bit in being a very good year.

“We went to Ascot [on Champions Day] with no expectation as well, which was great, because Baaeed was such a strong favourite.”

He adds, “And it could well be a very exciting year with both of them staying in training.”

Now based not far from Lambourn, Kingscote grew up in the south-west of England in Weston-super-Mare and started riding as a 12-year-old. In his typically guileless fashion he admits that he was a complete outsider to racing.

I was just that far away from racing, I had absolutely no idea, but I just said I like riding horses and I like going fast so I'll be a jockey

“My mum got a pony and my brother and I started having riding lessons once a fortnight,” he says. “I didn't really like school and because I was little I said I'd like to be a jockey. I knew nothing about it, honestly, I'd never have even watched a Flat race in my life. But mum found out about the Newmarket [British] Racing School, and I did the nine-week course there. I was unbelievably green. I think Frankie was probably the only jockey I've ever heard of, even though [Kieren] Fallon had been multiple champion jockey. I was just that far away from racing, I had absolutely no idea, but I just said I like riding horses and I like going fast so I'll be a jockey, which was probably quite naive, but somehow we got there.”

What Kingscote is too modest to mention, of course, is that the getting there “somehow” didn't just happen but was the consequence of his own hard work and professionalism, as well as the talents which had become apparent once he started riding. Like many young riders, he found that his career seemed to be stalling once he had finished his apprenticeship with Roger Charlton but, heading up to Cheshire with Tom Dascombe when the latter accepted the job as trainer at Michael Owen's Manor House Stables, he steadily earned the respect of the racing community as one of the most hard-working, loyal and reliable jockeys in the game as he and Dascombe established themselves as a formidable partnership, particularly to be feared at their local track Chester.

Though Kingscote has steadily earned bragging rights, there is no hint of the arrogance that sometimes comes with the confidence needed to be a top-level sportsman. In fact, more than most people, he is only too aware of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that lurk in every life. Last year his younger brother Karl, who had been working at Denford Stud at the time, had a mountain-biking accident which has left him paralysed. 

“Karl now lives with mum near Ffos Las,” he says. “We're still close even though he doesn't live 20 minutes away any more. One of our major hobbies is that we are both gamers. We speak almost every day, and we play together online. So we speak a lot still, which I think is quite good for him, and good for me as well.”

What has also been good for the jockey after the cut and thrust of the season is taking a proper break to spend some time with his wife Ashleigh and their two young children before he departs for America.

“It's hard to take time off as a jockey, particularly, obviously, in the summer it's just not the done thing,” he says. “So come the winter you ought to allow yourself a little bit of downtime and I often take things easier but still like to ride for my people. I've not ridden for a few weeks and I won't be riding until the new year.”

Frankie Dettori, who started his own American sojourn with three Boxing Day winners at Santa Anita, may have stolen his thunder but it is unlikely Kingscote will be complaining about that. In fact, despite his considerable success and experience, he appears to be approaching his forthcoming trip in mid-January with a degree of trepidation.

“Obviously I've been to a few Breeders Cups but it's my first proper stint riding anywhere else really, bar Australia when I was an apprentice. I think I'll be quite green about it all, to be honest,” he admits, his natural and unconscious modesty shining through as, from Gulfstream's point of view, they will be welcoming not the bit player which he still views himself as, but one of the highest-achieving jockeys in the world.

“I'm a bit nervous about it, but I am looking forward to it. Everyone seems quite excited that I'm going over. I did a radio show yesterday and all of a sudden got loads more American followers on Twitter.”

By the time he returns, Kingscote will likely have plenty more, for while he may not trumpet his own talents in the way in which an American audience will be more accustomed, he is certainly a rider to follow. 

The post Modest Kingscote Reaping Benefits of Getting Out More appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Kingscote told broadcaster Nick Luck on Nick Luck Daily Podcast Monday that he intends to ride beginning in the middle of January. Gulfstream's Championship Meet, highlighted by the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 28 and GI Florida Derby Apr. 1, begins Dec. 26.

After winning his first Epsom Derby this year for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, Kingscote  also teamed up with Stoute to win the G1 Champion S. Oct. 15 with Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}), handing six-time Group 1 winner Baaeed his first career loss in his 11th start.

“I've been lucky enough to be offered to go to Gulfstream Park for a bit,” Kingscote told Luck. “Luckily enough, I've already had a trainer message me, email me, and the guys at Gulfstream Park have been really helpful getting an agent sorted and try to get me out there, which is great. I'm really looking forward to it. It's a different style of riding, so I think it can't do me any harm to learn something new and open up a new avenue to my riding … I've been lucky enough to go to some Breeders' Cups and it's just more doors and trying to push me way through a few.”

Kingscote first rode horses as a child growing up in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare, England. He attended the British Riding School and apprenticed with trainer Roger Charlton, riding his first winner in 2004. He became stable rider for Tom Dascombe in 2008 and has notched other notable wins in the G1 2014 Irish St. Leger and 2018 G1 Flying Five S. with Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}). In 2016, Kingscote won the Dubai Gold Cup on Brown Panther (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) just four months after a spill where he broke his elbow in five places, left wrist and collarbone and suffered two punctured lungs. Last year, he was named All-Weather Champion Jockey for the first time.

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James Wigan inherited his distinctive set from his grandfather, the owner/breeder Charles Gordon, who most certainly would have approved of seeing his silks, described as 'cherry, cornflower blue sash and cap', rippling to victory on British Champions Day on the back of Richard Kingscote riding Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}).

The four-year-old colt, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, may have spoiled the swansong of Baaeed (GB), but for his breeder it was an immensely happy chapter in a story which didn't start off as well as Wigan might have hoped. 

“He was entered for the foal sale and the stud manager called me a couple of days before when I was already in Newmarket,” recalls Wigan, whose habit it is to sell his the stock from his Dorset-based West Blagdon Stud as foals, and who routinely has an enviable draft at Tattersalls in December.

“He was ready to come up and he'd got a knock and was slightly lame. We decided that it was pointless putting him on the box.”

There was of course an option to sell the colt from the first crop of Ballylinch Stud's New Bay as a yearling the following year but, in what has transpired to be an inspired decision, he was retained. It is rare to see a colt race in Wigan's name, though he enjoyed notable success in the late 1970s with his well-named homebred Final Straw (GB), by Thatch out of Last Call (GB), who won the G2 Champagne S. along with three Group 3 victories and runner-up finishes in the G1 Sussex S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois.

Wigan says of Bay Bridge, “We sell a yearling every now and again, but I liked him very much as a yearling and thought, 'Right. Well, having got this far, maybe somebody's trying to tell us something. Maybe we should just stick with him'. And luckily we did.”

With two placed runs as a back-end two-year-old, Bay Bridge wasn't an early star among New Bay's debutants, but he has made up for that at three and four, when it really matters. Unbeaten and quietly progressive in four starts in 2021, he rounded off that season a year ago almost to the day with victory in the Listed Seymour S. at Newmarket, but it wasn't until this May that his presence was properly felt on the main stage.

An explosive seasonal debut in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. set the scene for his immediate elevation to the top level, with Bay Bridge's ensuing three runs this year including a runner-up finish to State Of Rest (Ire) in the Prince of Wales's S. before bowing out with a triumph over Adayar (Ire) and Baaeed in the Champion S. For his four-year-old season his ownership became a partnership between Wigan and Ballylinch Stud, where he will eventually stand alongside his sire but, with just ten starts to his name to date, Wigan indicates that there is a “strong possibility” that Bay Bridge will be back next season in an attempt to enhance that record.

“Ballylinch has done extremely well with their stallions,” he says. “And they're very nice people to deal with, I've found, having had a lot of experience with them over the years.”

Wigan has justifiable claims to being New Bay's biggest cheerleader as he is also the co-owner, with Lucy and Ollie Sangster, of Saffron Beach (Ire), one of the stallion's two other Group 1 winners who lives just across Newmarket's Bury Road from Bay Bridge and who also remained in his possession rather fortuitously, after missing the yearling sales. 

He says, “I took a share in New Bay when he went to stud, so I was keen on him then. It was actually Liam Norris who selected Saffron, and he must get most of the credit, because he was looking for foals to pinhook for Ben [Sangster]. I happened to meet Liam and I asked if he had seen many New Bay foals because I was interested in them. I asked if he could look at this particular filly and he already had and said 'I like her very much and she's on my list for Ben.' So I said, 'Well, maybe Ben and I should speak'.”

The pinhook 'gone wrong' has turned into a racing adventure which has gone spectacularly right, with Jane Chapple-Hyam guiding Saffron Beach to a Group 3 win as a juvenile, followed by a runner-up finish in the 1,000 Guineas and victory in the G1 Sun Chariot at three, and further success in the G2 Duke of Cambridge S. at Royal Ascot and G1 Prix de Rothschild this year.

Wigan adds of her sire, “I liked New Bay very much as an individual. He's a beautifully-made horse. He's not too big, I think he's just on 16 hands. He's got lots of quality, he's got substance, I like [his sire] Dubawi, and it's a very nice Juddmonte family. It's the female line of Oasis Dream, so he had a lot going for him, as well as being a good racehorse.”

Bay Bridge's dam Hayyona (GB) (Multiplex {GB}), a descendant of the Aga Khan's Prix de Diane winner Shemaka (Ire), is back in foal to New Bay, so there is much to look forward to at West Blagdon Stud next spring, but first thoughts turn to the impending December Sales at Tattersalls. Saffron Beach, who was ruled out of a Breeders' Cup finale just a few days ago, is nevertheless likely to take a leading role in the inaugural Sceptre Session of the Mares' Sale, and before that the West Blagdon team will be kept busy with a draft of eight foals, including a trio by New Bay.

“It's early days, the foals haven't been in prep for very long, but I think there's a nice draft and we're looking forward to it,” says Wigan. 

One of the New Bays [lot 1010] is a grand-daughter of Dank (GB) (Dansili {GB}), another to have carried the cherry-and-cornflower-blue silks with honour, notably in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf nine years ago. Meanwhile, another member of the draft [lot 1007], a colt by Saxon Warrior (Jpn), hails from the same family as New Bay being a great grandson of Juddmonte's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches victrix Zenda (GB), who found further fame as the dam of Kingman (GB).

Wigan nominates another son of Dubawi as a stallion he will be following with interest. “I rather like Ghaiyyath's progeny, from what I've seen. I've only used him once. I will certainly be going back to him.”

With 14 on offer at Tattersalls, he will have a chance to peruse further the stock of Ghaiyyath (Ire), and Wigan also pinpoints a young sire with roots stretching back to West Blagdon when he says, “If I think of the first-crop sires, obviously Havana Grey (GB) has done very well, but that's very obvious. Tasleet (GB) interests me, probably because he's from our old family, so I follow him with some interest. He hasn't had an awful lot of mares but he's done pretty well. He's probably my sleeper amongst the young stallions.”

The old family in question is that of Pelting (GB) (Vilmorin {GB}), Tasleet's sixth dam and a broodmare of some note for Wigan's late mother, Dawn, who was bequeathed West Blagdon Stud by her father in 1959 and ran it with her husband Dare, a renowned racing journalist. 

“My mother was given three mares,” says Wigan, whose wife Anita is also a successful breeder in her own right. “She did it very much as a hobby and only ever had a few mares here, never more than four or five, but did extremely well. She preferred to sell foals at Tattersalls, which I continue to do, but I have increased the size of the stud by adding new boxes and we bought some more land. It's run in conjunction with an arable farm; a neighbour has a farm share arrangement with us.”

Among the many notable descendants of Pelting, which include Group 1 winners Rebelline (Ire), Moon Ballad (Ire) and Central Park (Ire), was Bassenthwaite (GB) (Habitat {GB}), who was bred by Wigan's parents and who raced successfully for Stravros Niarchos, winning the G1 Middle Park S. and later standing at stud in New Zealand. Though neither Bay Bridge nor Saffron Beach are travelling to this year's Breeders' Cup, there will still be plenty of interest at West Blagdon with Pelting represented by her sixth-generation descendant Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is currently favourite for Saturday's Filly & Mare Turf.

Wigan wears many hats in the bloodstock industry. As well as being a successful breeder, consignor and agent, he has managed the operations of other notable owner/breeders, including Lady Rothschild and George Strawbridge, while a recent addition to his duties includes advising and buying for Peter McCausland, who has restored the historic Erdhenheim Farm in Pennsylvania and is establishing his own breeding programme on the stud which can boast Derby winner Iroquois and inaugural Kentucky Derby winner Aristides as former residents. 

“They've got some lovely mares, and Peter McCausland, who owns it, is new to the business and very enthusiastic, and he's beginning to race. So he's very much doing what I enjoy most,” says Wigan of the owner/breeder who has been represented by his first juvenile runners under the Erdenheim Farm banner this year. “He's certainly been using the best sires. The mares have got the pedigrees, so we just hope that they can produce the goods.”

Reflecting on his work for his fellow breeders and clients of his London Thoroughbred Services, Wigan adds, “It's enormously satisfying because you're basically doing what you love. You think of the horses not as your own, but you get just as much pleasure from them. They've been able to buy into some nice families, they are very nice people to work with, and one can share their enjoyment and occasional successes.”

There can be nothing more satisfying, however, than having produced a colt of the highest calibre to continue the decades of work at the stud put firmly on the British map of bloodstock breeding first by Wigan's grandfather and later his mother. It's the cherry on top, with a splash of cornflower blue. 

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Rare are the days that John O'Connor of Ballylinch Stud enjoyed at Ascot on Champions Day last Saturday. No sooner had the G1 QEII celebrations died down after Bayside Boy (Ire) (New Bay {GB})'s victory, a horse the stud bred and co-owns with Teme Valley, when another runner that the stud owns jointly, Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}), lowered the colours of Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Champion S.

   It was an afternoon that propelled Ballylinch resident New Bay into the spotlight and continued the excellent momentum that the stud has enjoyed in recent weeks after homebred Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) bagged the G1 Prix de l'Opera.

   From discussing plans for Bayside Boy, Bay Bridge and Place Du Carrousel to describing New Bay as an elite stallion, Ballylinch Stud's John O'Connor makes for an excellent interview in this week's Q&A.

Brian Sheerin: Now that the dust has settled on British Champions Day, have you had the time to think further about the Breeders' Cup for Bayside Boy and Bay Bridge?

John O'Connor: The Breeders' Cup is under consideration for both horses. We'll let the horses tell us if they are ready to go or not. It's a short run in from British Champions Weekend to the Breeders' Cup, so everything needs to go right and the horses will need to have bounced out of Ascot well. We'll play it by ear.

BS: You hinted earlier in the week that one of the two could go to stud next year. Has that conversation moved on at all?

JO'C: Those are ongoing conversations. These are good horses and deserve plenty of thought put into their future plans and that's what we will do.

BS: It could be viewed as an afternoon that propelled New Bay into elite stallion status if he wasn't already considered to be in that bracket already. How proud are you of the stallion?

JO'C: He was already on his way to elite status and Saturday really pushed him over the threshold. That confirmed that he is an elite stallion. He's managed to do it with relatively smaller numbers. He didn't have huge numbers but the really good horses, I have found down through the years, always have high percentages of elite runners. When you have that, you know they are going to make it.

As the numbers increased, he has confirmed that as he went on and he has been one of those horses whose stats have always told us that he is a really high quality stallion. He's confirming that now with his runners reaching a high level. He has bigger and better crops to come–he covered a very good book this year–so there's been an incremental increase in the quality of mares that were sent to him. The really top breeders want to use him so he is in a good position.

BS: Alex Elliott commented at one of the yearling sales recently that he was on a mission to buy up as many New Bays as possible because, sooner rather than later, they were going to be out of his price-range. It must give you huge pleasure to see that so many in the industry have cottoned onto the horse from an early stage.

JO'C: It does, yes. Some very good judges like Alex cottoned onto him early and he actually bought Batemans Bay (Fr) who we race in partnership with one of his clients. He's a pretty good horse as well, and a progressive one, so yes, Alex has been one of those who identified New Bay at an early stage and he will be the beneficiary of that.

BS: Bay Bridge has only run 10 times so, if he was to stay in training next year, you'd imagine there could be a lot more to come from him given he's trained by Sir Michael Stoute.

JO'C: I would hope so. That's obviously a conversation that we will have with his owner-breeder James Wigan who is a very astute man in the business. James has experience with horses at the highest level so we will take on board his views on that. I think he could be quite interesting if he does stay in training. He could be a very dominant horse next year. He had an injury-curtailed season this year and he's a lightly-raced horse who has a very good win to run strike-rate. He has an awful lot that you would like in a top-class horse in the sense that he has an ability to quicken and a fantastic will to win. When you tackle him, he fights really hard and is hard to beat in a finish so he is an admirable racehorse and one I am looking forward to seeing on his next run, wherever that may be.

BS: It wasn't all about the boys last weekend, either. Fact Or Folklore (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) has had a brilliant time of it with her first two foals, Statement (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) and Self Belief (Ire) (Make Believe GB}), winning a series of listed races. Perhaps the broodmare band at Ballylinch sometimes doesn't get the recognition it deserves with the stallions flying the flag so well.

JO'C: That's the nature of the business, that the stallions get the most publicity because that's the way the industry is set up. But I have always taken the view that broodmares are extremely important to any stud farm and we have invested and had good support from owners with funding the purchase of some really nice mares.

We've been lucky to have raced some very nice mares as well and Fact Or Folklore is one example. We raced her in partnership with David Hyland and we were happy to buy her to continue her stud career here. She's made an exceptional start to her new career as a broodmare. Statement is her first foal and Self Belief is her second foal. Her third foal, a colt by New Bay, sold extremely well at Tattersalls Book 2 last week for 425,000gns to Stroud Coleman. She looks like she's an elite broodmare and it shows you that they don't have to start off being outstanding to turn out to be really good. She's one of those who is going to work her way up through the ranks, I think. It would appear that Lope De Vega passes on some very good traits and he's a very promising broodmare sire.

BS: We should probably credit Place Du Carrousel (Ire) (Lope De Vega) for kick-starting this golden run.

JO'C: That's absolutely true. Place Du Carrousel is a filly we bred and we retained half of her as a yearling. She's out of a mare [Traffic Jam (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire})] that we bought with a good race record. Her racing owner Alexis Adamian owns her in partnership with us and she boards at Ballylinch. This is her first foal, it's an extraordinary start for a broodmare to breed a Group 1 winner with their first foal. Place Du Carrousel will probably stay in training next season, so we could see her in the top fillies' races next year, for sure.

BS: And it turned out to be a timely win for Place Du Carrousel in the Prix de l'Opera as her half-sister by Kingman (GB) sold for 1,050,000gns at Book 1 to Shadwell.

JO'C: It's lovely to see that Shadwell are back buying top-class stock and a pleasure to see Sheikha Hissa so involved. She takes a personal interest in looking at the horses and that's wonderful to see. It's a great legacy that her father left her that interest and knowledge of the business. We would look forward to Sheikha Hissa having great success in the future. She has two very nice horses to go to stud next year in Baeed (GB) and Minzaal (Ire), so that could set Shadwell up for the next number of years in their stallion operation. If it is self-sustaining, that would be wonderful.

BS: And on the market at Tattersalls and beyond, I suppose we are running out of superlatives to sum up the demand for yearlings.

JO'C: You could say that it defies gravity when you think about what's happening in the world. The bloodstock market has always had its own internal mechanism and sometimes it is affected by greater world events but quite often it is not. It seems to have its own momentum. There aren't many horses at the top level and there are enough players at that level who want to participate. It can defy what's happening in the international monetary markets. Sometimes the top end of the bloodstock market is a bit of a special commodity in its own right.

BS: It could be another exciting weekend for Ballylinch with Lone Eagle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and promising juvenile Lord Of Biscay (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) running at Newbury.

JO'C: Lord Of Biscay is an interesting horse who won his maiden very well on good ground. It remains to be seen if he will be equally as effective on soft ground. He seems to have plenty of speed and he's a half-brother to Bayside Boy, so Alava (Ire) (Anabaa) is a mare who has been doing very well. Roger [Varian] likes him a lot and he's a horse who didn't go into training early in the year and we took our time with him. Roger has always said he's a real natural runner and he showed that first time out. It's a big step up and a change in surface conditions so it will be a big learning curve for him and us on Saturday. There's another horse we bred and part-own running in the race called Oviedo (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and he has legitimate aspirations of running well in that race as well. Lone Eagle had a little setback earlier in the year so we are looking forward to getting him back on the track.

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Haggas is clearly bullish on his chances and said: “I think people want to see a really, really top horse stay unbeaten and win in style. Staying unbeaten is terribly important now that we are nearly there. Frankel obviously was unbeaten, but few are in a career at that level. It would be sad if he was beaten, but not for the people who beat him.

“I respect Adayar very much, as I respect Bay Bridge, who looked a fantastic horse at Sandown, but they've got to go to beat him.”

Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois heroine Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) meets nine in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., with the 2020 hero The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) heading the opposition, providing the underfoot conditions suit.

“Modern Games will be declared and we will be on weather watch from thereon,” trainer Charlie Appleby told the Nick Luck Daily podcast Wednesday. “If the description was soft then he would be unlikely to run, but the decision will be made potentially on the day.”

Inspiral's trainers John and Thady Gosden also have the returning 'TDN Rising Star' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S., which has attracted a field of 14, while in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. last year's winner Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is one of 18. The opening G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup sees Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) bid for a third consecutive renewal against KHK Racing's St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The former's participation was cemented with the additional precipitation Wednesday.

“It should be fine,” said Trueshan's trainer Alan King. “They had 4-5mm last night so it's good-to-soft, soft, and that should be fine for him. I don't see it drying out much.”

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From bargain buy Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) bolting up in the G2 Coventry S. to Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) disappointing in the G1 King's Stand S., there were a huge amount of talking points to emerge from day one. Brian Sheerin examined the big takeouts from a pulsating day's action.

Bradsell the Best Result Imaginable 

You would be doing well to buy a horse to win a races at any level in Britain or Ireland for just 12,000gns and, the fact that the brilliant Coventry S. scorer Bradsell once went through the ring for that paltry sum should offer an incentive to everyone who has ever flirted with the idea of getting involved in racehorse ownership.

Bradsell, bred by Deborah O'Brien who has developed the family for generations, was offered on her behalf by Bearstone Stud and sold to Highflyer Bloodstock for just 12,000gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale in September 2021.

By first-season sire Tasleet (GB), Bradsell was subsequently sold for £47,000–again a relatively small figure–by Mark Grant to Blandford Bloodstock at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale in April.

Arguably one of the most impressive juvenile winners of the season when winning on debut at York, Bradsell confirmed the impression he left that day was completely correct by storming to Ascot glory, the win made all the more memorable for the fact that Hollie Doyle was in the saddle.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Bradsell's trainer Archie Watson, who lost the G1 Commonwealth Cup last year in the stewards' room after first-past-the-post Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) was deemed to have inconvenienced Campanelle (Kodiac {GB}), was securing his second win at the royal meeting after sending out Parent's Prayer (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) to score in 2021.

It is one of the captivating aspects of racing that, no matter how much money you throw at the game, it doesn't equate to success and the victory of Bradsell, in a stallion-making race, shows that everyone has a chance.

Maljoom Another Top Miler in the Making

Tongues were sent wagging, and rightly so, after Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) sauntered to G1 Queen Anne S. glory while Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) got out of trouble in the G1 St James's Palace S., and it will be fascinating if both colts lock horns in the G1 Sussex S. later this summer.

However, Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio) should not be forgotten about with a view towards top honours over a mile this season, as he hardened his reputation in defeat behind Coroebus, enduring a luckless passage to fly home for fourth.

Another stride or two, and the case could be made that Maljoom would have won and, for all that his trainer William Haggas would have been hugely disappointed not to win the St James's Palace, he left Ascot in no doubt that he has another top miler in his stable.

Like his stablemate Baaeed, Maljoom didn't grace the track until his 3-year-old campaign, and the rate at which he has improved from each start to the next has been nothing short of phenomenal.

This is a horse who won the G2 German 2000 Guineas on just his third start and, if he can show the same improvement as he did from Cologne to Royal Ascot as he can between now and his next start, he will need to be respected wherever he lines out in the future.

It was also notable in the St James's Palace that New Energy (Ire) (New Bay {Ire}), trained by Sheila Lavery, ran a similar race to his second-place showing in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas in that he travelled extremely well up to a point. He looks as though he'll be better back over seven furlongs and the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly next month looks the most obvious race for him.

Looking ahead, Charlie Appleby will not want similar tactics to unfold for Coroebus again and it could be the case that Godolphin run a pacemaker for him in the Sussex.

Bay Bridge Boost

Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay (GB) looked a potential top-notch older horse in the making when winning on his reappearance at Sandown and Dubai Future (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) provided believability to what Sir Michael Stoute's 4-year-old achieved in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. by bolting up in the Listed Wolferton S.

Dubai Future was no match for Bay Bridge at Sandown, finishing 11 lengths off Stoute's hugely exciting colt back in fourth, but he paid a handsome compliment to that form in running out a convincing winner of the penultimate race on Tuesday for Saeed bin Suroor.

Bay Bridge is a short-priced favourite to provide Stoute with his fifth G1 Prince Of Wales's S. on Wednesday and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see those odds contract further into a shade of odds-on given what Dubai Future achieved.

Callum Hutchinson Clinches Opportunity

It is one thing to be given an opportunity to showcase your talents on the biggest stage of them all and something altogether different in being able to take advantage of it. Nobody could accuse Callum Hutchinson of not doing just that.

One of just a handful of claiming riders to be in action on the opening day of the royal meeting, Hutchinson was exemplary aboard Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in the Ascot S. and even had time to celebrate a stride or two before the line.

The most impressive aspect of the ride was that Hutchinson had to fight for a gap two furlongs down when the door was almost closed in his face.

In doing that, and galvanising Coltrane to record a memorable success, Hutchinson rewarded the faith entrusted in him by Andrew Balding. He's certainly a rider going places.

Golden Pal Can Bounce Back 

What did we learn from Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) setting fire to the Ascot turf in the King's Stand S.? That the Australian-based sprinters are on a completely different planet.

Another major talking point of the race was the performance of Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who gave himself no chance at the gates by breaking slowly, eventually trailing home last of the 16 runners.

There was a huge amount of confidence behind Golden Pal, possibly fuelled by his trainer Wesley Ward's comments in the build-up to the race, and it was fascinating to see him usurp Nature Strip as the clear favourite before the off.

Of course, it's not the first time that Golden Pal has failed to fire in Europe, having fluffed his lines in the G1 Nunthorpe S. last season.

The fact remains that this is one of the fastest horses in the world and, while he is clearly not best suited by the straight courses in Europe, he remains a potent force in his homeland and should not be underestimated for some of the major sprints in America later in the year. He can bounce back from this.

It should also be noted that fellow Chris Waller-trained sprinter Home Affairs (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) shortened up considerably for the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. on Saturday. Anyone on the double will be sitting pretty.

The post The Major Talking Points From Day One at Royal Ascot appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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