Enable's first foal, the two-year-old colt by Kingman (GB) named Encompass (GB), will be trained by John and Thady Gosden at Clarehaven Stables, the former home of both his sire and dam. Enable's two-year-old full-brother Concert Tour (GB) has not yet been allocated to a trainer. 

Juddmonte's champion sire Frankel (GB) can naturally rely on plenty of support from his home camp, with 27 of the operation's stakes winners and/or producers on his book for 2024. These include the Group 1 winners Announce (GB) (Selkirk), Emollient (Empire Maker), who is the dam of Frankel's stakes-winning daughters Raclette (GB) and Ardent, Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), and Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy), whose Frankel colt Task Force (GB), trained by Ralph Beckett, is a potential Classic campaigner for this season. Juddmonte purchased Teona (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) at Tattersalls in December for 4.5 million gns when carrying to Frankel and she will return to him this year. 

Bird Flown (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the dam of Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin (First Defence), is another on the list for Frankel along  with Portodora (Kingmambo), the dam of GI Arlington Million winner Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}), and Repose (Quiet American), who has produced the treble Group 1 winner State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}).

Frankel's winning full-sister Chiasma (Ire) (Galileo {Ire) returns to Dubawi, and his Listed-winning half-sister Joyeuse (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) heads to Ireland to be covered by Wootton Bassett (GB) at Coolmore. She is the dam of the 2023 G2 Mill Reef S. winner Array (Ire) (No Nay Never), who is trained by Andrew Balding and is her fourth black-type performer. 

Strong Book for Kingman

Kingman's intended mates for 2024 will include return visitor Helleborine (GB) (Observatory), who has already produced the G2 Coventry S. winner and sire Calyx (GB) and Listed winner Coppice (GB) from previous matings with him.

The Group 1 winner and Group producers African Rose (a sister to Helleborine) and Passage Of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) are also booked to Kingman, along with Scuffle (GB) (Daylami {Ire}) and Nimble Thimble (Mizzen Mast), the dams of Group 1 winners Logician (GB) and Quadrilateral (GB) respectively. 

Group winners Brostaigh (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), Dandhu (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Fount (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and  Pocket Square (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) are also on the list along with Midday's Group 3-winning half-sister Sun Maiden (GB) (Frankel {GB}).  Trojan Queen (Empire Maker) is another returning to Kingman having producing the Group 3 and dual Listed winner Sangarius (GB) to him.

Seventeen for Chaldean

Banstead Manor Stud's new recruit to the stallion ranks, Frankel's 2,000 Guineas-winning son Chaldean (GB), will receive 17 mares from the Juddmonte broodmare band. Twelve of these are black-type performers or producers, while the other five are either half-sisters to Group 1 winners or daughters of Group 1 winners. 

Exemplify (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the dam of the GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB), will visit Chaldean, along with proven producer Deliberate (GB) (King's Best), whose five black-type performers include the Group 2 winners Projected (GB) and Headman (GB), and Shared Account (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the dam of dual Group 3 winner Pocket Square. 

Flare Of Firelight (Birdstone), the dam of G2 Gimcrack S. winner Threat (Ire), is also in his first book along with Group winners Timepiece (GB) (Zamindar), Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Modern Look (Zamindar), who is already the dam of Group 3 winner Grand Jete (GB).

Venturing Farther Afield 

A hallmark of Juddmonte's matings, and indeed its success over the years, has been the operation's strong support of its own roster of stallions, which also includes Oasis Dream and Bated Breath. A selection of the Juddmonte mares to be venturing outside the fold this year includes Emulous (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who visits Camelot (GB) to replicate the mating that produced the G1 Irish Oaks runner-up Bluestocking (GB). Grade I winner daughter Capla Temptress (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) visits Dark Angel (Ire), and Frankel's G1 Fillies' Mile winner Quadrilateral will be going to Wootton Bassett.

Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a Group 1-winning daughter of Banks Hill (GB), will visit Zarak (Fr) at the Aga Khan Studs, where the G3 Aston Park S. winner Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) and her dam Natavia (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) are both set to be covered by Siyouni (Fr). 

Sacred Shield (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), the dam of GI Matriarch S. winner Viadera, will become the first Juddmonte mare to visit Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey (GB). Group 3 winner Juliet Sierra (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) heads to Darley's Too Darn Hot (GB) while multiple Group winner Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) will be covered for the first time at Coolmore by No Nay Never.

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3.15 Newbury, Cond, £50,000, 3yo, 10fT
MILITARY ORDER (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) takes part in the latest of the Darley Novice races and is a fascinating runner in this conditions event which has a rich recent history of throwing up future Classic winners. Godolphin's full-brother to the 2021 Derby and King George hero and stablemate Adayar (Ire) was off the mark at Newmarket in October and represents the Charlie Appleby stable successful in this with Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) two years ago. This race also played host to Star Of Seville (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Light Shift (Kingmambo), so it's a case of eyes peeled!

How They Fared
17.20 ParisLongchamp, Cond, €35,000, 3yo, f, 8fT
Kelina (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the Wertheimers' TDN Rising Star who was bidding to get back on track following a disappointing no-show in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac over this track and trip on Arc day, was ken early but found plenty late on to chase home the race-hardened talented performer Quickstep (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in a pleasing return to form.

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Emily Upjohn is a general even-money shot to provide Gosden with a fourth Oaks success following a stylish victory in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. at York earlier this month.

Gosden, who shares his training licence with his son Thady, also won the Oaks with Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in 2017 and Anapurna (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in 2019, and is set to be double-handed in this year's race after Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) was confirmed for Epsom on Saturday. 

Speaking at the the Cazoo Derby Gallops Morning, Gosden said, “I think she [Emily Upjohn] is in the Taghrooda league. It would be silly to start talking about Enable as that would be completely over the top.”

He added, “It is her ability to travel and quicken over a trip that reminds me of Taghrooda. I know they were playing, if you like, coming down the hill at a half-speed but even the way she quickened today between the three and the two was impressive.”

Emily Upjohn has raced just three times in her career and, according to Gosden, the experience of Monday's dry run around Epsom will stand to the short-priced favourite come June 3.

Gosden said, “Frankie (Dettori) felt that for a filly who has had three races in her life it would be nice to come here and just have a look and feel of the track, which is all that you are doing as you are not trying to do any exploratory work.

“She behaved great, moved very well, got her leads right coming down the hill and quickened up nicely. I think she will come on a lot for that mentally. She is not a filly who raced a lot at two as she only had the one run at Wolverhampton, but you can see by the size of the frame of her why we were patient.”

He added, “She has filled out well and she has rather enjoyed her morning out here. I would hope she has got the speed for the Oaks as she has shown an ability to quicken. The other day in the Musidora she quickened well there at York.

“She did it well at Wolverhampton and at Sandown she sat very handy, then lengthened off the front. She has a change of gear.”

Gosden's Oaks hand is strengthened by the fact that Nashwa, a general 5-1 chance, is second only to her stablemate Emily Upjohn in the betting, with the trainer hopeful rather than confident that she will get the trip at Epsom.

He said, “They [Nashwa and Emily Upjohn] have never worked together and it won't be my intention to do so. This filly [Emily Upjohn] is guaranteed to stay a mile and a half. With Nashwa the speed she has shown it wouldn't be guaranteed she gets a mile and a half.” 

Nashwa's participation in the Cazoo Oaks also throws up the possibility of a first ever Classic success for a female jockey, with Hollie Doyle set to ride.

Gosden added: “When Mr Imad Al Sagar asked me about Hollie two or three years ago I said she is a superb jockey that is very talented and horses run for her.

“She has an incredible work ethic. She reminds me a lot of Julie Krone. From my point of view she has been the ultimate jockey type and so I said it is a great idea if you retain her and he did.

“She looks at every detail of everything. She does her research properly and is a great race rider and if it came off it would be wonderful.”

He added, “You had a young lady win the US Open and that captured the imagination in this country and anything to that extent like this is particularly positive for the sport. It has had an image of being a bit crusty and clubby, but it is not.”

The post Gosden Talks Up Emily Upjohn For Oaks At Gallops Morning appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Frankel's book includes the group and listed winners Alocasia (a half-sister to G2 winner Set Piece), Capla Temptress (G1 winner), Classical Times (a half-sister to Newspaperofrecord), Environs (a half-sister to Frankel's G3 winning son Delaware), Grand Jete, Soffia, Starformer (the dam of listed winner Flavius) and Winsili (G1 winner).

He is also covering the proven producers Bird Flown (dam of G1 winner Siskin), Portodora (dam of the aforementioned Alocasia and Set Piece), Ruscombe (dam of Frankel's listed winning daughter Petricor, who is now in training with Bill Mott), and Scuffle (the dam of Logician). He is also covering the blacktype performer Peace Charter – who is a daughter of multiple G1 winner Emollient and therefore a half-sister to the very promising Frankel filly Raclette.

Kingman had another stellar season in 2021 – Palace Pier, Schnell Meister and Domestic Spending winning six G1 races between them last year, and he will be represented by over 190 beautifully-bred 2-year-olds this year.

His book of mares mirrors his standing as one of the world's best sires and includes G1 winners Emulous, Juliet Foxtrot, Quadrilateral and Samba Inc, and proven producers Flare Of Firelight (dam of G2 winner Threat), Mirror Lake (dam of G2 winner Imaging), Nimble Thimble (dam of the aforementioned Quadrilateral) and Trojan Queen (dam of G3 winner Sangarius); and young group/graded-winning mares Dandhu, Gaining, Isabella Giles, Lucky Kristale (a half-sister to Love), Nay Lady Nay (a sister to Arizona), Pocket Square and Sun Maiden (a half-sister to Midday).

2022 will see the first runners hit the track for the top-class 2-year-old/miler Expert Eye (whose dam is visiting Mehmas) and Juddmonte are continuing their strong support of the son of Acclamation.

The mares going to him include the G2 winning-miler Modern Look (dam of the G3 winner/G1 placed Grand Jete), listed winner Pavlosk, Showcasing's blacktype sister Tendu, and her winning Frankel filly Beheld. Tendu is a daughter of Oasis Dream, the sire of the European champion 2-year-old Native Trail, and amongst others he will cover the G1 winner Announce, G3 winner Hot Snap (a half-sister to Oasis Dream's outstanding daughter Midday) and the winning Frankel filly Wensleydale, whose dam is the Group-winning sprinter Divine.

Bated Breath will be standing for a career-high £15,000 this season and his mares include Photographic (the dam of G3 winner Shutter Speed) as well as the listed winners Variable and Zaminast (a half-sister to Famous Name), the young group-placed mare Midweek, and Star Snap, who is a Galileo daughter of the G3 winner Hot Snap.

Other homebred stallions being supported include New Bay who is covering the Listed winner Heliac amongst others; Showcasing, whose mares include G1 winner African Rose (dam of Fair Eva and relative of Native Trail), Continental Drift (a daughter of Intercontinental and dam of Listed winner Masen) and Deliberate (dam of G2 winners Headman and Projected, the latter by Showcasing); and Time Test, whose book includes Across The Floor, the dam of Irish G3 winner Acanella.

Time Test's dam, the G1 winner Passage Of Time, is one of several mares visiting Dubawi – other mares include Enable (along with her half-sister Entitle and dam Concentric), Frankel's sister Chiasma, and Frankel's black type winning daughters Fount (G3 winner out of multiple G1 winner Ventura, who herself visits Night Of Thunder), Mori (listed winner out of Midday) and Obligate (G2 winner and a granddaughter of Hasili).

Joyeuse, a half-sister to Frankel, will visit Camelot, while her daughter Jovial will visit Wootton Bassett (along with Enable's half-sister Portrush and Banks Hill's G1-winning daughter Romantica).

Joyeuse's other daughter Jubiloso is visiting Sea The Stars, along with Bated Breath's G1-winning daughter Viadera.

Viadera's dam Sacred Shield is one of two G1-producers visiting Siyouni, the other being Juliet Foxtrot's dam Kilo Alpha.

Siyouni's Gr.1-winning son St Mark's Basilica will be covering the G1 winners Midday and Timepiece.

G1 winner Proviso will visit Lope De Vega, along with G3 winner Big Break (the dam of listed winner Georgeville).

Matings which produced talented 2-year-olds last year are being repeated – with Straight Answer's dam Straight Thinking returning to Kodiac – and Juncture's dam Occurrence visiting Dark Angel again.

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In its mating plans released on Thursday, Juddmonte quite understandably has designated a star-studded group for its breakout homebred sires Kingman and Frankel.

Kingman

Juddmonte mares visiting Kingman this season include Grade/Group 1 winners Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Quadrilateral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Samba Inc (Arg) (Include), as well as the champion 2-year-old filly Quadrilateral's dam Nimble Thimble (Mizzen Mast); Flare Of Firelight (Birdstone), the dam of G2 Gimcrack S. and G2 Vintage S. winner Threat (GB) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}); and young stakes-winning mares Dandhu (GB) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Isabella Giles (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}), Lucky Kristale (GB) (Lucky Story), Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Pocket Square (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}).

Frankel

Among the mares designated for champion sire Frankel (GB) are Grade/Group 1 winners Capla Temptress (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Winsili (GB) (Dansili {GB}); the multiple group winner Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}); Bird Flown (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Scuffle (GB) (Daylami {Ire}), the dams, respectively, of Juddmonte-bred Classic winners Siskin (First Defence) and Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB}); and Peace Charter (GB) (War Front), a half-sister to Frankel's exciting 3-year-old filly for 2022, Raclette (GB).

Expert Eye

Juddmonte sire Expert Eye (GB) has his first runners this year, and among the mares Juddmonte will send him in his fourth season are Modern Look (GB) (Zamindar), the dam of Grade III winner Grand Jete (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the listed-winning stakes producer Pavlosk (Arch); black-type mare Tendu (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}); stakes producer Announce (GB) (Selkirk); and Group 3 winner Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), a half-sister to six-time Group 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Midday is herself one of two Juddmonte mares that will visit Coolmore's Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old St Mark's Basilica (Fr), the other being Group 1 winner Timepiece (GB) (Zamindar).

Bated Breath

Bated Breath (GB) stands for £15,000, his highest-ever fee, at Banstead Manor this year, and the Juddmonte mares he will receive include stakes producer Photographic (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}); listed winners Variable (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Zaminast (GB) (Zamindar); and Star Snap (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Hot Snap.

Showcasing, Time Test & New Bay

Juddmonte will also support stallions it has bred that are now standing at other studs. Among the mares set to be covered by Group 1 sire Showcasing (GB) are Fair Eva (GB) (Frankel {GB})'s dam African Rose (GB) (Observatory {GB}). Time Test, the sire of four stakes winners from his first crop last year, will cover the likes of Across The Floor (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the dam of Group 3 winner Acanella (GB) (Dansili {GB}); while New Bay (GB) will cover listed winner Heliac (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}).

Outside Stallions

In addition to St Mark's Basilica, the outside stallions that Juddmonte will use include Night Of Thunder (Ire) (Grade I winner and stakes producer Ventura {Chester House}); Camelot (GB) (Frankel's stakes-producing sister Joyeuse {GB} {Oasis Dream}); Wootton Bassett (GB) for three mares including Joyeuse's daughter Jovial (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})) and Group 1 winner and stakes producer Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}); Sea The Stars for another of Joyeuse's daughters, Jubiloso (GB) (Shamardal) and the Grade I-winning Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}); Siyouni (Fr) for two mares including Viadera's dam Sacred Shield (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}); Lope De Vega (Ire) for the multiple Group 3 winner and stakes producer Big Break (GB) (Dansili {GB}); Kodiac (GB) for Straight Thinking (Mizzen Mast), which will result in a full-sibling to last year's listed-winning juvenile Straight Answer (GB); and Dark Angel (Ire) for Occurrence (GB) (Frankel {GB}), which will result in a full-sibling to last year's G3 Silver Flash S. second Juncture (GB).

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Dettori rode Khalid Abdullah's great homebred mare Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in all bar two of her 19 races for trainer John Gosden, for two wins in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three wins in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., victories in the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks', G1 Coral-Eclipse and GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

“Prince Khalid did amazing things for the sport of horse racing and it's a pleasure to ride in the race named in his honour,” said Dettori. “He will never be forgotten, and I'll be forever grateful for all the opportunities I was given to ride for him, not least Enable who gave us all such incredible memories.”

“I've ridden in Saudi for years and the racing calendar out there is very strong now,” Dettori added. “Of course, there is the Saudi Cup meeting next month, but there are more good races with top prize money throughout the winter that make it an attractive option for the European jockeys. The dirt course is top-class, and the turf track is beautiful. It's fresh every year, you really can't fault it.

Dettori will ride the former Andrew Balding-trained Recovery Run (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won an Ascot handicap by four lengths last summer and is now trained by Allan Smith for Al Adiyat Racing.

“The Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah Cup on Saturday looks an interesting race, with plenty of familiar names in there like My Frankel and Fabilis,” said Dettori. “I remember I rode Crossed Baton to win the Derby Trial at Epsom a few years back and he only left John [Gosden]'s last year, so he's interesting too. As for my horse, Recovery Run, he won his last start by 21 lengths, so I'd like to think he's got a good chance.”

Silvestre de Sousa will partner the former Khalid Abdullah runner Fabilis in the Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah Cup, and he said, “It's a real honour to have been asked and I am looking forward to spending time out there. The racing is good quality and the people are so welcoming.”

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The movie 'Dettori', made by Embankment Films, charts the rider's life as he is sent to England as a teenager to follow in the footsteps of his father, the Italian champion Gianfranco.

It details how he overcame a career-threatening early injury, escaped from the inferno of a deadly plane crash and overcame drug abuse, repeatedly picking himself up and driving himself to new heights.

Dettori grants behind-closed-doors access to his life and the inner sanctum of the racing world as the film-makers shadow his every step as he strives for a record third victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on his favourite horse Enable.

The film will be released to selected cinemas and on DVD, Blu-ray and download on November 15.

This story was reprinted with permission by Horse Racing Planet. Find the original piece and more content here.

The post On The Big Screen: Jockey Frankie Dettori Stars In Documentary Depicting His Life Story appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Royal Ascot 2021 will mark the end of a 22-year stint in the role which has seen him closely allied to some of the greatest names in the sport's modern history as the public face of the operation which is as admired as much as it is successful. That admiration extends to Grimthorpe himself, better and more informally known as Teddy. He was Teddy Beckett when he was first appointed to his role by Prince Khalid Abdullah in 1998, and he later succeeded his father as the 5th Baron Grimthorpe in 2003. 

Racing was in the blood of this Yorkshireman. His grandfather owned the 1947 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Fortina (Fr), while his father brought him closer to the sphere which would come to dominate these past two decades of his working life as the breeder of Mrs McArdy (GB), winner of the 1000 Guineas in 1977.

Twenty-two years later that same race would provide the first Classic winner overseen by Grimthorpe for Juddmonte when the Henry Cecil-trained Wince (GB) (Selkirk) triumphed in the season that both Guineas were run on Newmarket's July Course.

“I was brought up in a sort of fairly horsey fashion. I rode out–I don't think he would call it that–but I did ride out for Jimmy FitzGerald, I think when I was still at school,” Grimthorpe recalls with typical modesty.

Stints at Lindsay Park Stud in South Australia and Nydrie Stud in Virginia, as well as completion of the National Stud course, gave way to another decent term of 22 years with the British Bloodstock Agency (BBA) before Grant Pritchard-Gordon's imminent departure from Juddmonte presented an opportunity to relish.

He continues, “I went to meet the Prince in the middle Sunday of the December sales. I didn't know if he was interviewing lots of other people. But anyway, he welcomed me into his office and said, 'I'm just here to welcome you to the club'. So I thought that was a pretty good job interview, really, but it was typical of Prince Khalid. Of course he had done a little bit of research on me, or I imagine he had.”

When his impending departure was first announced in April, Grimthorpe recalled with some amusement in a TV interview the time he was asked by a racegoer if his job was merely to collect cups. Pleasingly, there have been many trophies to gather during Juddmonte's 40 years, but Grimthorpe's responsibilities have naturally run far deeper. 

After all, this is an operation where no detail is overlooked–from planning a mating, through to conception, foaling, nurturing, training, racing, and often back to stud. An in-depth knowledge of the Juddmonte families is a pre-requisite, and an understanding of the traits and foibles associated with certain bloodlines essential when helping in the decision-making of assigning horses to trainers.

“Of course, the racing is the end product and a vital one,” he says. “I think from an enjoyment point of view [what I have enjoyed most] is the development. It's knowing the stallions, knowing the mares–generations of mares. I mean when Lucid Dreamer (GB) won her maiden, she was a sixth generation Juddmonte-bred. So those sorts of things–knowing the families, and growing up with the families, and seeing what they produce and what sort of horses, and what sort of temperaments, what sort of types. They then would go to France and Ireland to be broken in there. You just sort of saw them on a regular basis throughout summer and autumn, to see how they develop and then really you're in a good position to advise, in my case, Prince Khalid and, of course, latterly the family where they might be best suited. That was a decision on the whole that Prince Khalid always took. He took a huge amount of trouble in trying to allocate his horses to where he wanted them to go. So it was my job to give him the background and the facts to help him make these decisions.”

As important as knowing the bloodstock was forming good relationships with trainers, and in Grimthorpe's tenure he has worked with some of the legendary names in world racing. And as the eighth anniversary of the death of Sir Henry Cecil  has passed this week, he is remembered still with fondness and admiration.

“Henry was not what I'd call a 'stand by your beds' man,” Grimthorpe says. “But he slightly pretended to be a bit more informal than he actually was. Originally [head lad] Paddy Rudkin told me that they thought that he was sort of daydreaming around the yard. Actually they soon realised that he wasn't daydreaming, he was just taking in all the rhythms. He had an extraordinary eye.”

He continues, “So he was very different to John Gosden, who is utterly brilliant. Andre [Fabre], his CV is second to none. On the American side, Bobby Frankel, he was a unique man and had a great depth of thought about the game, and how it was run and what the horses wanted. He had quite a gruff outside, but he had a very soft inside, Bobby.

“Prince Khalid chose his trainers very, very carefully. Really it was slotting the right horses to the right person. I think good horses on the whole are going to be good horses with good trainers. I think if you get to the likes of Frankel, it's hard to think that Frankel wouldn't have been a very, very good horse, but I don't think the story would have been so fantastic without that sort of combination, and likewise Enable and Frankie [Dettori] really, and of course John. It's those sort of dynamics that make it all interesting.”

With such a wealth of equine talent to draw from, Grimthorpe is understandably reluctant to nominate one individual as a personal favourite. “Like Andre said, I don't rate my friends,” he says with a smile. “I always thought that was such a good get out, because many of them really had fantastic stories and great, great histories.”

He is, however, happy to compile his own version of Juddmonte's greatest hits from the last two decades.

“From the early days, Dansili (GB) was the first of Hasili's progeny to hit the racecourse. I was always incredibly fond of him. Prince Khalid certainly had huge faith in him. He always said that probably if he'd been better managed he would have won at least two Grade Is. He covered the last quarter-mile in the Breeders' Cup Mile in twenty-one and change, and still finished third. I mean a half a nose past the post, he was a length clear practically. So it was always frustrating. Prince Khalid said, 'We're going to treat him like a Group 1 winner', so he came back to the stud.”

He adds, “I went through a barren period when I started the job. We had no winners at all. Wince, when she won the Fred Darling, was the first winner in England that I'd managed. She of course went on to win a Classic. 

“I always loved Twice Over (GB) because he was such a gent. He was the most mild-mannered, honest, straightforward, wonderful horse. He really was. And of course, Famous Name (GB), that Dermot [Weld] trained, won 21 Pattern races.”

He reflects on 2003 as a particularly special year for the organisation worldwide.

“Prince Khalid had Nebraska Tornado, who won the Prix De Diane, Oasis Dream (GB), who was a champion sprinter, and [Belmont S. winner] Empire Maker, all in three different jurisdictions, almost outstanding horses of their particular generation. So that was exciting,” he says. “Then there's the likes of Midday (GB) winning a Breeders' Cup and Kingman (GB)–we still can't work out how he got beaten in the 2000 Guineas. Of course, he had redemption, especially at Ascot, but more so, I thought, in the Sussex Stakes.”

In the minds of many racing fans, two Juddmonte horses tower above all others during Grimthorpe's tenure: Frankel (GB) and Enable (GB). It is nine years since Frankel's final appearance at Royal Ascot for his imperious romp in the Queen Anne S. and, unusually, he has remained almost as much in the public eye as he was in his racing days since his retirement to Banstead Manor Stud. For not only has he shown himself to be a high-calibre stallion in the time but he has also taken part in endless photo calls with visitors to the stud as well as acting as an important fundraiser as an equine ambassador for the East Anglian Children's Hospice.

“I think everyone from Prince Khalid downwards in Juddmonte was pretty much aware that Frankel had the potential to be something special from a pretty early stage,” Grimthorpe notes. ” When we put a saddle on him and he started moving, you know, he made the heart skip a beat, no question about that. Then he started running, and you're thinking, 'Oh, this could be good'. It kept on going up the scale. I think he then grew in the public's minds because he kept on winning. Therefore, it sort of snowballed and he was able to jump outside the the back part of the sporting pages.”

He continues, “Henry at that stage was undergoing his cancer treatment and so was mentally unbelievably strong, but physically quite frail. Prince Khalid said to me, 'I want you to take this on. I don't want Henry to be under any pressure in terms of the press and the publicity and all that'. Then, of course, we talked about Frankel often and endlessly. I did say to him once, 'You do realise you're going to have to share this horse now with the wider world'. 

“He was a very private person, Prince Khalid. He'd always kept it like that with his horses but he certainly understood that this was going to have to happen. He was fully on board because he realised what a phenomenon Frankel was for the whole racing business. He was a great major story of an alpha male. The story of Henry and him, obviously with two great stories individually, but together they made for a massive story.”

If Frankel sustained his trainer through his own torrid battle with cancer, so did Enable for her owner/breeder. The great mare last set foot on a racecourse on Oct. 4 last year when attempting to win her third Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. A little over three months later Prince Khalid died at the age of 84. Frankel may have been his 'alpha male' crowning glory as a breeder, but Enable, unusually and specially kept in training as a 6-year-old, was Juddmonte's queen.

“I always felt that when helping to make the decisions on whether they stay in training, I think there's always the same questions you ask yourself,” explains Grimthorpe. “Is she sound? Is she happy? Has she got targets? What's the programme? Most importantly, what does the owner want to do?

“Enable she was the most extraordinary lady. She wanted to do it. I mean she really wanted to know why she wasn't being fed first in the morning. Why she wasn't going out first thing, or why she wasn't cantering first, or why she wasn't galloping. She was the most vociferous, extraordinary person like that. So she pretty much told us what she wanted to do. She told John first, obviously. So from that point of view, it was something that Prince Khalid and the family really enjoyed.”

He adds, “I think the target of a third Arc was a big enough carrot to try. I think if you have horses of the calibre of Enable, to try and test them as much as you can is not unreasonable.”

If no favourite horse can be named, then a favourite moment from many memorable occasions during the 22 years is easy to come by, particularly for the man who all but grew up on the Knavesmire.

“There's no doubt that on the racecourse, the 22nd August 2012 was it for me for so many reasons,” he says of Frankel's seven-length victory in the Juddmonte International S. when asked to race beyond a mile for the first time.

“Obviously Frankel stepping up to the mile and a quarter for Prince Khalid's flagship race. I was chairman of York racecourse, so I did think if things went badly I could lose the only two jobs I had. But it was an extraordinary day in every possible way. The great Yorkshire crowd came in droves, people were sitting around the paddock from the first race onwards. People kept coming up to me from arrival onwards, [there was] the excitement, the buzz.”

Cecil, too, had a strong attachment to Yorkshire, and made the trip to watch his star pupil make his penultimate start despite his failing health. 

Grimthorpe recalls, “Prince Khalid came. Henry was determined to come, even though Prince Khalid had said he didn't need to. He said, 'I'm coming'. He looked very frail that day, but he was determined to come and and the horse delivered.”

The Prince and Sir Henry are now sadly departed. Frankel continues in his pomp, heaping reflected glory on the Juddmonte operation through his first Derby winner, Adayar (Ire), for their rival team of Godolphin. As the final day of Royal Ascot gives way to a Classic Sunday in France–a regular pilgrimage for Grimthorpe through the last 22 seasons–so a new chapter will begin. The man who had the privilege of watching this extraordinary story unfurl from the inside, and who remains the epitome of the discreet and diplomatic racing manager, will hand over that title to Barry Mahon from June 21.

As deputy senior steward of the Jockey Club, Lord Grimthorpe will not be lost to racing, or indeed to his beloved York, where he remains on the board of the racecourse. Indeed, the sport could not ask for a more passionate advocate in all it is currently trying to achieve in Britain.

“The ethos is that we want people to come racing,” he says of York in particular but in a manner that should be extended nationally. 

“Therefore, if you want people to come racing, you've got to deliver it. First and foremost, a very friendly face at the first gate you walk into. Good facilities so people actually are happy to eat and drink what's on offer. To get fantastic horses, you've got to have fantastic prize-money. To have fantastic prize-money you have to have fantastic crowds, and so it goes on. So from that point of view, York embodies that very much. Equally so, if you fall down in one of those, then you fall down in the whole lot, and people understand that. I mean, everybody at York understands that. So it is getting the collective to buy into everything that we're trying to do. Trying to make it better, improve everything: it's a never-ending process.”

The post Lord Grimthorpe: Witnessing Greatness From Within appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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1.00 Newbury, Mdn, £10,000, 3yo, 8fT
SNOW LANTERN (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is out to book a potential place in the line-up for the G1 1000 Guineas in three weeks' time that her dam Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}) captured in 2013. Rockcliffe Stud's Richard Hannon-trained homebred, who was second on debut to the subsequent G2 May Hill S. third Zabeel Queen (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) at Ascot in July, encounters Juddmonte's Derab (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), a John and Thady Gosden-trained half-brother to Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) who was also runner-up on his introduction to 'TDN Rising Star'. La Barrosa (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) at Ascot in September.

1.23 ParisLongchamp, Debutantes, €27,000, 3yo, c/g, 10 1/2fT
IN CROWD (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the latest progeny out of George Strawbridge's star mare In Clover (GB) (Inchinor {GB}), who has already produced the trio of Group 1 winners Call the Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}), With You (GB) and We Are (Ire) with the latter two by Dansili (GB). Freddy Head has charge of the April-foaled chestnut, whose nine peers include Like You (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois's half-brother to the G1 Prix Vermeille third Ligne D'Or (GB) (Dansili {GB}) from the Fabrice Vermeulen yard.

1.58 ParisLongchamp, Debutantes, €27,000, 3yo, f, 10 1/2fT
ALISOL (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) is another notable from the Freddy Head stable, being the Wertheimers' daughter of their G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Silasol (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}). Taking on the February-foaled bay is Haras de la Perelle's Robbia (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), a Francis-Henri Graffard-trained daughter of the GI E. P. Taylor S. winner Reggane (GB) (Red Ransom).

The post Classic Tilt In The Balance For Snow Lantern appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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In this edition of the Friday Show, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills coaxes Chelsea to talk about some of her favorite moments in her “other” job, which she describes as taking horses to the starting gate “in as calm and safe a manner as possible with a 1,200-pound animal that is sitting on go. So it can be a bit of a challenge now and again.”

Chelsea took two-time European Horse of the Year Enable to the track for morning training at Churchill Downs and to the starting gate for her stirring victory in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf. She also recalls the “amazing amount of sound” she experienced ponying Uncle Sigh in the 2014 Kentucky Derby post parade after the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home” ends and the crowd erupted in a massive cheer. And of course there were those times she got to ride one of the most famous of the racetrack ponies, Harley.

We're sticking with the “homer” theme for Star of the Week, a 3-year-old Daredevil filly who won a $16,000 maiden claiming event recently at Gulfstream Park and is entered in the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track's third race on Friday.

A $16,000 claimer is Star of the Week, really? What we didn't say is that Sister Is Devil was the first pinhooking project for Chelsea and her business partner, Steph Settles, who joins Joe and Chelsea to talk about that experience buying the Daredevil filly as a January yearling and selling her for a modest profit nine months later. Joe rounds out the show with our weekly Toast to Vino Rosso and a profile of one of the arriving foals from the first crop of the son of Curlin.

This is one episode any horse lover won't want to miss. Watch below.

The post The Friday Show: Moonlighting On The Back Of A Pony appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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