Modest Kingscote Reaping Benefits of Getting Out More

Richard Kingscote is far too nice. He is also a damn good jockey. And if people hadn't realised that before this year, they certainly do now.

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. 

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Epsom Derby-Winning Jockey Kingscote to Ride at Gulfstream

British jockey Richard Kingscote, winner of the G1 Epsom Derby June 4 aboard favored Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), will spend part of his winter riding at Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet.

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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Bay Bridge Continues West Blagdon’s Long Run of Success

It is a source of regret that the selection of British racing colours has been homogenised to the extent that it comes down to artlessly underwhelming choices such as light blue or dark blue. Eighteen standard colours are allowed in a variety of patterns, but gone, sadly, are the days when an aspiring owner could opt for 'Straw' (The Duke of Devonshire), or 'Apricot' (Lord Howard de Walden).

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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John O’Connor Q&A: ‘He Could Be A Dominant Horse Next Year’

 

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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