1) Europeans Unleashed As Santa Anita is Struck by Tragedy, by Emma Berry (96,627 views). TDN European Editor Emma Berry arrived at Santa Anita as the sport and the Breeders' Cup was dealing with another blow, the death of Practical Move (Practical Joke) and the injury suffered by Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), who would eventually be euthanized. She marveled at the beauty of Santa Anita and watched the European contingent prepare for the races, but found it hard to forget that it had been another difficult week for the sport. “Even with such brilliant beauty close at hand, it was hard to revel in what should have been a joyful morning as the image of the prone Practical Move lingered on in the mind's eye,” she wrote.

2) Racing Word Mourns Death of Lady O'Reilly, by Emma Berry (96,536 views). Berry reported on the passing of highly successful and longstanding owner-breeder Lady Chryss O'Reilly, the owner of Haras de la Louviere in Normandy, who died at the age of 73.

3) Fatalities Mar Travers Saturday at Saratoga, by Bill Finley (51,660 views). The Saratoga meet saw an unusually high number of breakdowns, but two stood out. Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) broke down a jump or two before the finish of the GI Test S., a race she was well on her way to winning. In an eerily similar scenario that had occurred on the GI Travers S. card, New York Thunder (Nyquist) had the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. all but won before breaking down a few feet before the finish. On the same card, a horse named Nobel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire} was also euthanized. Bill Finley wrote of a Travers Day that was supposed to be about everything that is great with the sport turning into one of the ugliest afternoons ever at Saratoga.

4) Everything Was Done to Save Him: Derby Hero Desert Crown Euthanized, Staff Report (50,946 views). The story reports on the death of Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), the brilliant winner of the 2022 Derby, who was euthanized at Newmarket Equine Hospital after failing to recover from an injury sustained on the gallops in August.

5) Jockey Alex Canchari Passes Away, by Bill Finley (50,438). In one of the sadder stories of the year, Midwest-based jockey Alex Canchari passed away in March at the age of 29 after taking his own life, sparking discussions about jockeys' mental health.

6) Horse of the Year Havre De Grace Passes Away, by Alan Carasso (48,136). Havre de Grace (Saint Liam), the 2011 Horse of the Year, passed away in April. Wayne Sweezey, who boarded Havre de Grace at his Timber Town Farm, confirmed that the 16-year-old mare hemorrhaged multiple times and died after producing a colt by Into Mischief the afternoon of Apr. 28.

7) Pretty Mischievous Wins Test; Maple Leaf Mel Breaks Down at Wire, is Euthanized, Staff Report (41,426). Like the breakdown of New York Thunder later on in the meet, the breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel in the Test S. shook Saratoga and cast a pall over the meet.

8) HIWU Descends Upon a Shedrow, Upending Life For a Mom-and-Pop Stable, by TD Thornton (30,863). John Pimental is a small-time trainer who was well-liked, worked hard and had never been in any trouble during his long career. That all changed when agents for the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) descended upon John's stable and upended his world: one of his horses had tested positive for 193 picograms per milliliter of methamphetamine, a street drug of abuse that is classified as a “banned” substance in racing. The story details Pimental's fight to clear his name and takes a look at the tactics HIWU used to make the case that Pimental had violated its rules.

9) Sire Of Sires, WinStar Farm's Champion Speightstown Euthanized, Staff Report (30,066). The story reports on the passing of WinStar Farm's top sire Speightstown (Gone West) and his remarkable career as a sire.

10) The Week in Review: With Forte Non-DQ, NYRA Stewards Owe Public an Explanation, by Bill Finley (29,977). The Saratoga stewards decided not to disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in the GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga, despite what appeared to be rough-riding tactics by Irad Ortiz Jr. that caused Forte to bump Angel of Empire (Classic Empire). But writer Bill Finley thought the bigger story was that there is next to no transparency in racing when it comes to stewards' decisions and that the bettors deserved an explanation over why there was no disqualification.

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“Everything was done to try to save him, we thought he was making progress but then he just started going backwards,” said Philip Robinson, assistant racing manager to owner Saeed Suhail.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Desert Crown was bred by Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud. He made just one appearance as a two-year-old to post a facile maiden victory at Nottingham and reappeared at three, the jungle drums banging loudly in the build-up to the G2 Dante S., which he won in imperious fashion to prompt him being backed into favouritism for the Derby. Similarly commanding at Epsom, he gave jockey Richard Kingscote his first Derby victory and his trainer a sixth success in the race since Shergar (GB) in 1981.

Desert Crown was beaten for the first time in what transpired to be his final start of only a four-race career when second to Hukum (GB) in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. this spring. In preparation for an intended start in the G1 Juddmonte International he fractured his off-fore fetlock on Sunday, August 20 and was transported immediately to Newmarket Equine Hospital for surgery. He has remained there until the decision was taken for him to be humanely put down on Monday afternoon.

Robinson added, “With a severe injury like that there is a lot of pressure with the weight of the animal standing on it, but we really thought he was going to get there and it's very sad he didn't make it.

“You can try and help them with supports for the leg but at the end of the day they've got to be able to stand on their own. He had the best available treatment anywhere in the world, if he couldn't be saved here then he couldn't be saved anywhere.

“He was a fantastic horse and his Derby win was an incredible day that we'll never forget.”

James Savage, assistant trainer to Sir Michael Stoute, said, “He was a brilliant racehorse with an exceptional mind and we never really got to the bottom of him. We always thought that he was going to be a better horse with each race. To win a Derby on his third start was amazing in itself really. It's very sad. He could have reached the moon.”

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The 2022 Derby winner, who was off with an ankle injury for a year following his Epsom triumph, was beaten on his return by Hukum in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown in May.

Sir Michael Stoute's charge had been reported to be working well in the build-up to a clash with that rival at Ascot and was also set to take on this year's Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, along with the high-class filly Emily Upjohn in a mouthwatering renewal of the mile-and-a-half contest.

However, the four-year-old will now be rerouted to next month's Juddmonte International S. at York.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to the colt's owner Saeed Suhail, said, “Desert Crown doesn't run, he has got a leg infection. The plan is to go to York, but that is as much as I know.”

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Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the son of Nathaniel (Ire) stormed to Classic glory at Epsom in 2022 before spending almost a year on the sidelines before making his return in the Brigadier Gerard in May where he finished second to Owen Burrows' reopposing Hukum.

A further setback ruled him out of an intended Royal Ascot engagement but after working well on the Limekilns gallop at Newmarket on Sunday morning, Desert Crown is now on course for a belated appearance at the Berkshire track in search of one of the season's most prestigious prizes.

“He's going OK. He worked yesterday morning and he worked nicely,” said Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Saeed Suhail.

“He doesn't do a lot now, but everyone was very pleased. It was good to see him on the grass.”

There could be a rematch between Aidan O'Brien's Derby winner Auguste Rodin and the Epsom runner-up King Of Steel at Ascot. Auguste Rodin, who followed up in the Irish equivalent, is one of six in the mix for Aidan O'Brien, who could also be represented by Luxembourg, Point Lonsdale, Adelaide River, Broome and Bolshoi Ballet.

Defending champion Pyledriver will bid to enhance his fine Ascot record having landed the Hardwicke S. following almost a year off the track during the royal meeting, while John and Thady Gosden's Eclipse runner-up and Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn adds further spice to a race which looks like being a high-class renewal.

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Last year's Derby winner, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, has raced just four times in three years, and was beaten for the first time on his sole start this season when second to Hukum (GB) in the Brigadier Gerard S. on his reappearance after a 12-month absence.

Philip Robinson, assistant racing manager to Desert Crown's owner Saeed Suhail, said, “He's started cantering, having been walking all last week, and is all is good.

“Nothing showed up on any scans or X-rays or anything, so it must have just been a bruise or something like that which just set him back 10 days.”

He added, “I'm not sure where he'll run, I wouldn't have thought Sir Michael will rush him back, he'll just take his time and when he's back in full work then he'll make a plan.

“It was just one of those really unfortunate things that happens with horses, but they are athletes and these things happen.”

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Richard Kingscote has ridden the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt in all four of his starts to date, including his seasonal resumption when second to Hukum (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. Kingscote is unlikely to be without a big-name partner in the race, however, as he is the intended rider for Bay Bridge (GB) on whom he won the G1 QIPCO Champion S.

Breaking the news on the Nick Luck Daily podcast, Bruce Raymond, racing manager to Desert Crown's owner Saeed Suhail, said, “For [the owner], Desert Crown winning this race is all important and while Frankie is around, because he's not going to be around next year, he wants to give the horse every chance. He believes that Frankie is unbeatable around Ascot. It's no disgrace for Richard at all. It happens, it's not the end of the world, and obviously Richard is hoping he can beat him on the other horse.”

Asked by Nick Luck is Kingscote will regain the ride if Dettori is unavailable for future targets, Raymond added, “I'm sure he'll be riding him. Obviously Ryan Moore is Michael Stoute's number one jockey, but it is hard to get him for these big races, and it's better to have the jockey that you know riding the horse than anybody else. I'm sure he'll be back on the horse should Frankie not be able to ride.”

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From that December day at Fairyhouse until Sunday at the Curragh, A P O'Brien has been the name printed alongside 400 Group or Grade 1 winners. From his roots in National Hunt, he quickly set about conquering the Flat world. In O'Brien's first year at Ballydoyle, Desert King (Ire) became his first Group 1 winner in the 1996 National Stakes in the colours of Michael Tabor, with Walter Swinburn up. The son of Danehill later became his second Classic winner, but only by 24 hours, when the trainer signalled the manner in which he intended to continue his Flat training career by saddling the winners of the Irish 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas in the same weekend. Classic Park (Ire) struck in the fillies' contest and, like so many top-class fillies trained from Ballydoyle, became influential in her stud career as the dam of Derby runner-up and sought-after National Hunt sire Walk In The Park (Ire).

Desert King went on to win the Irish Derby and later that year we would see just how well recommended by John Durkan was the brilliant Istabraq (Ire), when he posted the first of 23 wins for O'Brien and JP McManus.

O'Brien's first triumph in an Epsom Classic came in 1998, when Shahtoush (Ire) won the Oaks. Giant's Causeway was perhaps his first real superstar, with his imperious run through the high summer of 2000 foreshadowing the appearance of the horse with whom O'Brien's name will be forever entwined: Galileo (Ire).

He was of course the first of his trainer's eight Derby winners in 2001. By the end of this week it's not impossible that O'Brien will have brought his tally of Classic wins at Epsom to 20. He has six of the remaining 15 entries in the Oaks, led by Savethelastdance (Ire), a daughter of his old friend Galileo, and four of the 16 for the Derby, including the winter favourite Auguste Rodin (Ire), looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the 2,000 Guineas.

Over last weekend, it was Paddington (GB) and Luxembourg (Ire) who brought his tally of Group 1 wins to the 400 mark, with the former sparking an Irish Guineas double for Siyouni (Fr) which was completed by Tahiyra (Fr) for the Aga Khan and Dermot Weld on Sunday.

The Older Guard

Luxembourg's triumph over Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) in the Tattersalls Gold Cup brought to a close a treat of a week when it came to action from the older-horse brigade.

There was the rare, if not unique, spectacle of last year's Coronation Cup and Derby winner, Hukum (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), returning in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. after neither had been seen in public since their respective Epsom wins. Hukum's turn of foot in the closing stages was a sight to behold as he reeled in Desert Crown as the post loomed to win by a half-length. His trainer Owen Burrows kept the ball rolling with another of his older inmates, and another grandson of Cape Cross (Ire), when the five-year-old Anmaat (Ire) became the first Group 1 winner for this sire Awtaad (Ire) in Monday's Prix d'Ispahan.

The aforementioned Luxembourg perhaps doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Like the previous weekend's Lockinge winner Modern Games (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) , he is a Group 1 winner at two, three, and four, which is no easy feat and is the mark of a proper horse.

Luxembourg's sire Camelot (GB) surely holds a place in Aidan O'Brien's heart for providing his son Joseph with a first Derby triumph as a jockey. As we head into the Derby weekend it is worth reflecting on the influence of Camelot's sire Montjeu (Ire), whose sons Motivator (GB), Authorized (Ire), and Pour Moi (Ire) also won the Derby in a seven-year-period, to be followed by Pour Moi's son Wings Of Eagles (Fr) in 2017.

The quirky but brilliant Montjeu was often derided when it came to his record as a sire of fillies, but he is currently performing well in the broodmare sire table, some 11 years after his death at the age of just 16. On Saturday, he featured as the damsire of Classic winner Paddington, while previous group winners around the world this year out of Montjeu mares include Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) and Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). He has already featured as the broodmare sire of an Oaks winner, courtesy of Meon Valley Stud's 2019 victrix Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}), and he could enhance that record further if Heartache Tonight (Fr) were to oblige on Friday for David Menuisier. The daughter of Recorder (GB) has been produced on the same pattern of 3×3 inbreeding to Sadler's Wells as Anapurna, and they respectively have the half-brothers Unfuwain and Nashwan in the bottom half of their pedigrees. 

It was also a big week for some of the star juveniles of 2022. Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) pulled up lame after the 2,000 Guineas but put that firmly behind him with a resolute win in the G2 Sandy Lane S. under Frankie Dettori. In the second of two cracking sprints at Haydock, Steve Parkin's homebred G2 Queen Mary S. winner Dramatised (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) returned to lift the G2 Temple S. She heads to the G1 King's Stand S., while Little Big Bear is now a warm favourite for the G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Whitsbury World

When it comes to golden geese, Whitsbury Manor Stud appears to have one of both the male and female variety. The stud record of last year's leading freshman sire Havana Grey (GB) goes from strength to strength, and on Thursday his son Elite Status (GB) emulated his dad by winning the Listed National S. for the Karl Burke stable, becoming the first stakes winner of Havana Grey's second crop. Among those from his debut crop of three-year-olds, Mammas Girl (GB), Great State (GB) and Shouldvebeenaring (GB) are all black-type winners this year, with the last two named, along with Elite Status, having been bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud.

The stud also features this year as the breeder of 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whose half-sister Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) gave Whitsbury Manor yet another Listed win on Friday in the Cecil Frail S. The four-year-old thus became the fourth stakes winner for the increasingly celebrated mare Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}).

Stand By To Party

When Con and Theresa Marnane's Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) appeared at Royal Ascot in 2017 with two wins under her belt and promptly took the G3 Albany S., the revelling continued not just late into that night but for several months. Stand by then to join the party if Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {Ire}) should follow suit for the Marnanes in the G2 Coventry S. Similarly unbeaten so far in his two starts, the Airlie Stud-bred €11,000 yearling consigned two six-figure rivals to the minor placings when winning the G3 Marble Hill S on Saturday. Like the aforementioned Chaldean and Get Ahead, he is out of a mare by Dutch Art, in this case the 1m4f winner Dromana (Ire), a half-sister to the G3 Henry II S. winner Lismore (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}).

It was a good day for the Marnanes' Bansha House Stables, which sold Salisbury debut winner Reveiller (Ire) at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale last month. The Archie Watson-trained colt took the tally of wins for Soldier's Call (GB) to 11. Ballyhane Stud's young sire was also trained by Watson and triumphed as a juvenile at Royal Ascot, where a number of his first-crop members will surely be heading.

Incidentally, Different League, who went from being an €8,000 foal to a 1.5 million gns in-training purchase, was represented by her first winner at the Curragh on Friday when her three-year-old son Subzero (Ire), who has borrowed his name from a Melbourne Cup winner, won the three-year-old maiden for Peter Brant and the Coolmore team.

Premierisation and Injunctions

It is generally the preference in this column to sail on and celebrate all that is good about the sport. There are, however, two looming issues which cannot presently be ignored. 

It is a desperate measure for a racecourse operator to have to apply for a High Court order in an attempt to prevent disruption at a major meeting, but this is exactly what the Jockey Club has been forced to do in the wake of overt threats from the protest group Animal Rising. On Friday, an injunction was granted for Epsom Downs, which could lead to fines and/or imprisonment for anyone attempting to prevent the smooth running of races during the Derby meeting. 

The group has been offered a spot near the entrance to the racecourse to conduct a peaceful protest, but it remains a chilling prospect that this will not be taken up, and instead the safety of the horses, which the protestors claim they want to protect, and their jockeys will potentially be put at risk by those intent on halting proceedings.

As well as facing outside threats, racing is not immune to acts of self-harm, and it remains to be seen how well the British Horseracing Authority's 'premierisation' experiment works. In announcing some of the details of this scheme on Thursday, the BHA stressed that this is a two-year trial. Its key element revolves around restricting Saturday afternoons to two premier meetings and one of lesser status, referred to as a core meeting, in order to drive betting turnover. Data supplied to the BHA by the betting industry is said to imply that a clearer schedule during the 2pm to 4pm slot will encourage punters to bet more. It seems a dubious claim, but time will tell.

What is not in doubt is that staging fewer meetings on a Saturday afternoon will have a negative affect on racecourse attendances, which are already on the wane. There are few better ways to introduce new people to the sport than through an enjoyable day out at the races, and for many working people, a weekend afternoon presents the perfect opportunity for this.  

Other racecourses beyond the three with the selected meetings can still race on a Saturday, but they must either start early enough for their races to be concluded by 2pm, or stage a twilight or evening meeting. Both options are less convenient for most racegoers (not to mention owners, trainers and racing staff).

Enhancing the current fare on offer on Sunday afternoons in Britain has also, sensibly, been suggested, and along with that will be staged a trial of Sunday evening racing. It is no surprise that the prospect of the latter has been greeted with widespread dismay. 

As stated, however, it is a trial. If owners and trainers don't like the idea, they can simply not enter to run. It has to be said that some of the language used in reference to this pilot scheme sticks in the craw a little, with the fixtures described as betting sessions rather than race meetings. These six test sessions are, of course, for “lower-grade horses” and will take place between January and March. 

The meetings are clearly not aimed at encouraging racegoers–more for the punter at home during what has been identified as a time when “betting activity tends to be strong”. But the horses and the travelling staff still have to get there and, more importantly during the winter months, get home safely in the cold and dark. The same goes for the owners of those lower-grade horses, plenty of whom enjoy actually going racing to see them run. It is up to them and their trainers to decide whether this is a step too far, or whether the rewards on offer will be enough to entice them away from Countryfile on a Sunday evening.

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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.”

The post ‘He’s Just Bombproof’: View From the Stoute Stable as Desert Crown Nears Return appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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. 

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