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Juddmonte Farms Announces 2021 Mating Plans For European Broodmare Band

Juddmonte is pleased to announce the 2021 mating plans for some of its high-profile horses.

In 2020, Frankel became the fastest European stallion ever to reach 40 group winners and finished the year on a high with the track record-breaking Group 1 success of 2-year-old Grenadier Guards.

He will receive another exciting book of 24 Juddmonte mares this season, including multiple G1 winner Ventura (already dam of G3 winner Fount by Frankel), G1 winner Emulous, Bird Flown (dam of G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin), Nimble Thimble (dam of Frankel's G1 winning 2-year-old Quadrilateral), G2 winners Soffia and Modern Look, G3 winners Big Break, Dandhu and Visit, Flare Of Firelight (dam of G2 winning 2-year-old Threat), Ruscombe (whose first foal by Frankel, Petricor, won her only start as a 2-year-old in 2020, earning 'TDN Rising Star' status), Sleep Walk (a half-sister to Frankel's track record-breaking classic winner Logician), Atone (a sister to Midday), Tendu (sister to Showcasing), Tiadargent (sister to Restiadargent), Very Good News (a daughter of Hasili and dam of Frankel's classic-placed son Weekender as well as promising Frankel 3-year-old Media Stream), and two half-sisters to Kingman in Panzanella and Present Tense.

Kingman sired three G1 winners in 2020, included Timeform's top-rated 3-year-old Palace Pier. The son of Invincible Spirit is set to cover 20 Juddmonte mares, including champion 11-time G1 winner Enable and Frankel's dam Kind, G1 winners Capla Temptress, Passage Of Time, Romantica, Samba Inc and Special Duty, G2 winners Lucky Kristale (a half-sister to Love) and Riposte, G3 winners Hot Snap and Sun Maiden, Helleborine (dam of Kingman's G2 winning 2-year-old Calyx), and Scuffle (dam of G1 winner Logician) and her daughter Battlement.

Expert Eye is the only G1-winning miler by Acclamation, and he retired to stud with a higher Timeform rating than both his sire and his successful stallion sons Dark Angel and Mehmas. Expert Eye covered 50 stakes winners in his first two books of mares, welcoming his first crop of foals in 2020. Among his Juddmonte mares for 2021 are multiple listed winner and G1-placed Principal Role, listed winners Scottish Jig and Swiss Range, Kilo Alpha (dam of G3 winner and G1-placed Juliet Foxtrot), Photographic (dam of G3 winner Shutter Speed, herself out of the legendary Juddmonte mare Prophecy), Palmette (a sister to Showcasing) and Strelka (a Kingman half-sister to Workforce).

Bated Breath enjoyed another great season as the best-value sire of black type performers in Europe in 2020, capped by the G1 win of Juddmonte homebred Viadera in December, who remains in training this year. Bated Breath is also the sire of leading 2021 French Derby hope Makaloun, an Aga Khan homebred who was a Group winning 2-year-old and placed in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Juddmonte mares set to visit the son of Dansili include Viadera's dam Sacred Shield, as well as G1 winner Proportional, G3 winner Tested, listed winners Alocasia and Rostova, and Meridiana (an unraced daughter of Galileo and Midday).

Oasis Dream remains a proven source of G1 speed and reached a landmark 200 stakes performers in 2020. He is also making a significant impact as a broodmare sire, with four G1 winners to his name in the last year alone. In 2021 he will cover the Juddmonte mares Bonne Idee (a winning daughter of Frankel and half-sister to Oasis Dream's G2 winner Imaging), Its A Given (a winning daughter of Bated Breath), Occurrence (an unraced daughter of Frankel out of Hasili's G1 producing sister Arrive) and Shared Account (dam of Oasis Dream's Group performing daughter Sand Share as well as G3-winning 2-year-old Pocket Square).

Juddmonte mares visiting outside stallions include G1 winners African Rose (visiting Dark Angel), Announce (visiting Pinatubo), Midday (visiting No Nay Never), Promising Lead (visiting Calyx), Proviso (visiting Wootton Bassett), Quadrilateral (visiting Dubawi along with Goldika, a daughter of Goldikova, and Listed winner Franconia), Timepiece (visiting Night Of Thunder) and Winsili (visiting Golden Horn).

Enable's dam Concentric will return to Nathaniel and Enable's Group-placed half-sister Entitle will visit Sea The Stars. Frankel's G2-winning daughter Obligate will visit Siyouni, along with Headman's dam Deliberate and Midday's listed-winning daughter Mori.

The post Juddmonte Farms Announces 2021 Mating Plans For European Broodmare Band appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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This Side Up: Manners Maketh Mandaloun

How ironic, that a man with a nearly anguished instinct for self-effacement should have left so indelible an impression on our walk of life–one he strolled so quietly that he insisted on registering his silks, with The Jockey Club in Britain, simply in the name of Mr. K. Abdullah. How many others who covet the Turf’s great prizes, in contrast, elbow their way through the crowd in preening advertisement of their wealth and acuity?

If we learn much about such people from their presumption of some deeper dignity, from a status they cannot sustain even by a royal title, so we can surmise something of those human qualities–generally so inscrutable–that were extinguished with the loss of Prince Khalid this week. For he plainly considered “Mr.” an ample prompt to our general obligation of mutual civility; above all, perhaps, among those who constantly witness the egalitarianism that persists between Thoroughbreds themselves. Whatever advantages we seek in pedigree–the foundation, after all, of his entire Juddmonte empire–even the Prince will have seen the most regal foals reduced to the claiming ranks, or denied the throne by blue-collar upstarts.

Admittedly the courteous lineaments of his public appearances so confined his inner nature that we should perhaps hesitate before discovering some third dimension barely exposed even to those in our community who spent years in his service. For their tributes have been in much the same register as those made from a more superficial vantage. Even from the outside, any of us might ascribe to him attributes of ‘the perfect gentleman’. First and foremost, precisely that freedom from self-importance; but also his distaste for the kind of hiring and firing that we see in the Turf’s coarser patrons.

So perhaps we actually knew him better than we realized. Certainly his striking fidelities suggest an unshakable respect for those qualities that abide within those who might not appear, to more fickle judgements, in a deserving state of grace. He was just about the last man standing when Sir Henry Cecil paid with the contempt of fashion for a human brittleness in the face of adversity. And while Bobby Frankel never lost professional esteem in the same way, you suspect that few who share the Prince’s antecedents would have become quite so devoted to a cantankerous Jewish gambler from Brooklyn.

The Prince with Sir Henry Cecil in 2011 | Racing Post

The sheer breadth of humanity encompassed by those two trainers, their wildly divergent personalities united by a slender strand of genius, attested to a tolerance and empathy in the Prince that would serve us all well, not least in these rancorous times. A tragic destiny, of course, reserved for Frankel and Cecil a cruel extra bond, in their premature loss to cancer. But a happier clause in the unforgiving terms of fate was the arrival of a champion, named in memory of one, to redeem the darkest hour of the other.

Arguably the Prince surrendered something even of Juddmonte’s defining achievement to the needs of his suffering trainer. Even with his own time probably short, he delayed Frankel’s retirement as the apogee of his breeding program so that Cecil would retain a spur to his fortitude every time he went out onto the gallops. And the Prince also indulged the rather parochial priorities that somewhat hampered Cecil even in his pomp, never mind at a time when personal travel had become impractical.

The Prince must surely have asked himself, as did some of us mere bystanders, what capacities remained unexplored in Frankel as Cecil kept him, almost to the end, in the same domestic pool of outclassed milers. Constantly compared with specters of the past, Frankel was never given the chance to measure himself even against his contemporaries overseas. The Prince had a mansion just beside the Bois de Boulogne, and first became enchanted by the Turf when taken by friends to Longchamp in 1956. And he adored the Breeders’ Cup. Hopefully his enjoyment of Frankel’s wonderful start at stud was not too poignantly tempered by the reflection that the speed-carrying capacity he imparts to his stock really should have been examined either in the Arc or at the Breeders’ Cup.

A trifling quibble, by now, in a legacy that has long been secure–and will long continue to evolve. Indeed, just as Juddmonte once gave a cherished friend a critical transfusion of vitality, perhaps those grieving the Prince now will themselves find some timely succour from its bloodlines.

Mandaloun | Coady

Because none of us, surely, will be able to resist a frisson that some benign force may assist the Juddmonte colt who finds himself, on this of all weekends, dipping a toe into the Triple Crown water in the GIII Lecomte S.

The Kentucky Derby was one of the few great ambitions to elude the Prince, albeit he managed two seconds (Aptitude and Empire Maker) from only five starters. Mandaloun is by the same extraordinary sire that has just settled any doubt as to his competence to stretch his trademark speed, with the improvement in his mares, to the demands of the Derby.

The upgrading of Into Mischief‘s books was aptly measured when the Prince favored him with a visit from Mandaloun’s dam, Empire Maker’s daughter Brooch, a Group 2 and 3 winner in Ireland. Judicious introduction of external blood has been key to the constant invigoration of the Prince’s families. In this case, however, the first three dams are all by homebred stallions: Empire Maker, Dansili (GB) and Distant View. But the fourth dam is Queen of Song (His Majesty), a sister to Cormorant added to the expanding Juddmonte band for $700,000 at the 1989 Keeneland November Sale.

Brad Cox also saddles an exciting sophomore filly for Juddmonte in the Silverbulletday S. Already No. 2 in colleague Bill Finley’s TDN Oaks Top 10, Sun Path is by another commercial stallion in Munnings. In her case, however, her first three dams are all by other outside sires: Tapit, Nureyev and Nijinsky. The third is champion Chris Evert’s daughter Nijinsky Star, acquired (from the Carl Rosen dispersal) in the same ring as Queen of Song, and for the same price, two years previously.

Whereas Queen Of Song had won 14 of 58 starts for Parrish Hill Farm, Nijinsky Star appeared a very different proposition: in fact, she had a tube exiting a lung, draining fluid from a bout of pleurisy in her younger days. But that did not put off the Prince and his team, and his investment paid off with Nijinsky Star’s emergence as foundation mare. Two daughters by Nureyev did especially well: Viviana produced multiple Grade I winners Sightseek (Distant View) and Tates Creek (Rahy), while Willstar gave us not only Group 1 winner Etoile Montante (Miswaki) but Touch the Star, who has already produced Bonny South by Tapit to win the GII Fair Grounds Oaks last year; and now Sun Path.

Sun Path | Hodges Photography

So both these Classic prospects exemplify the Prince’s patient refinement of families, an artistry and precision spanning three decades. Though their breeder actually started out by breaking the European record for a yearling almost immediately–giving 264,000gns for a Grundy colt at the 1978 Houghton Sale, ultimately to little avail–he showed great discrimination in his choice of talent, both human and equine, once deciding to build up his own program. It might seem easy for a member of the Saudi royal family to buy the right quality, but it’s worth recording that wealthy rivals spent even more on 37 other mares at the sale where the Prince bought Nijinsky Star. Needless to say, few proved anything like as good an investment.

In recent times the Prince had become frail, rather than just elegantly slender, and was rarely seen even as his last champion Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) prolonged her exuberant reign. But he had already long guaranteed a vibrant legacy to generations of horsemen to come.

For whenever they pore over pedigrees–renewing the perennial puzzle of what works and why–they will find themselves clinging gratefully to the footholds chiselled by this dignified, recessive figure. He will loom over the 21st Century breed much as Federico Tesio or the 17th Earl of Derby did before, paradoxically dragged by his own, understated passion into the applause of posterity from the anonymity he cherished.

Frankel | Juddmonte photo

Tesio’s exotic personality and beliefs were vividly chronicled, both by his own pen and others; while Derby’s public career in wartime gave him much wider profile. But this temperate Prince we respected, as much as anything, for the respect he exuded: whether in his personal bearing, or in the things he did (or, more importantly, the things he didn’t do) with the horses and horsemen in his service. In the old axiom, ‘manners maketh man’.

Sometimes a man becomes most truly distinguished by camouflage. I love to think of the young Prince, not yet 20, at Longchamp in 1956. People must have looked straight through him then, immaculately dapper though he surely must have been, unwitting of the transformational ambitions stirring in this captivated young Arab. That must have suited him just fine. But however little we really knew ‘the Prince’, and whatever complicated shades of humanity remained ever beyond our reach, we bid farewell to ‘Mr. Abdullah’ with much respect. And we will all duly celebrate success for Mandaloun, or Sun Path, simply as an immediate assurance that his bequest to the breed, whatever happens to Juddmonte now, will outlive us all.

The post This Side Up: Manners Maketh Mandaloun appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Without Parole Bolsters Gunthers’ Stallion Record

John and Tanya Gunther’s Glennwood Farm produces stallions at a rate which must be the envy of some of the larger operations in the business. On its roll of honour the names of ten sires are inscribed, led of course by the Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), now ensconced on Coolmore’s American roster. In 2021, the international wing of the Gunthers’ operation can add a British-based stallion to its list with the return of Without Parole (GB) to his birthplace of Newsells Park Stud.

The son of Frankel (GB) provided his breeders with a treasured Royal Ascot victory in their own colours in the G1 St James’s Palace S. just ten days after the unbeaten Justify became the 13th winner of America’s Triple Crown, leading to John Gunther being recognised with the Eclipse Award for outstanding breeder. While the majority of the family’s mares reside at their Glennwood Farm in Kentucky, the Canadian breeders also board a select band at Newsells Park Stud. It is primarily a commercial concern, but the horses retained to race are campaigned in Britain and France, as well as America.

During a midwinter Covid lockdown there can be few things more cheering than reflecting on that golden summer of 2018 while finalising this year’s matings plans in support of a new stallion.

“It was such a crazy period,” says Tanya Gunther. “Justify had just won the Triple Crown and the odds of having the Triple Crown winner and then Without Parole winning at Ascot seemed too much. I just thought to myself ‘It can’t happen’, and it really wasn’t until he made his move in the stretch and got to the lead that I believed he might just do this.”

Just a week after Without Parole was born, his half-brother Tamarkuz (Speightstown), the eldest of Without You Babe’s offspring, had won the G2 Godolphin Mile on Dubai World Cup night for Sheikh Hamdan, and his subsequent switch to America led to his GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victory the following year. Their family has been further enhanced by the dual winner and Grade 3-placed She’s Got You (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and though Without You Babe was herself unraced, she is a half-sister to the dual Grade 1 winner and former Coolmore stallion Stay Thirsty (Bernardini).

Their Darley-bred dam Marozia (Storm Bird) was bought by John Gunther at Keeneland in 2003 and had been trained in Britain by John Gosden, who also oversaw the first half of Without Parole’s racing career before he switched to Chad Brown in America. Remembered by Gosden as “a very sound and tough colt, and incredibly good natured”, Without Parole didn’t add another win to his four British successes but he accrued plenty more black type with placed finishes in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and G1 Shoemaker Mile in California, as well as the G1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland.

“Tamarkuz we bred in the U.S. and he was bought by Shadwell and he went around the world,” says Gunther. “Without Parole has also travelled all over the world and I’d like to think breeders give that some credit as we all know how difficult it is when they don’t have the right mind. Frankel himself didn’t travel but Without Parole went everywhere, more than what it would appear on paper because he flew back and forth across the U.S. several times and the U.S. is huge.”

She continues, “My dad had always envisioned him starting at stud in England. For European breeding, England, Ireland and France are all big but our operation is based in England so it was always in the back of our mind to have him back there. I do think that in America turf racing is becoming better regarded but for some bizarre reason they don’t value turf stock as highly as dirt at the sales. While that bias is diminishing, it’s still very much there past the top level.

“We tried to price him competitively hoping that he would appeal to breeders so he can get sufficient mares to be able to prove himself. Obviously for me it’s hard to look at him objectively but it seems to me to be a pretty good deal for a Group 1-winning son of Frankel with his pedigree—it’s a pretty choc-a-block female line.”

The return of Without Parole has been understandably well received by the team at Newsells Park Stud. General manager Julian Dollar says, “To say that we’ve been following this horse since the day he was born is, obviously, literally true. We very much kept an eye on him and have been talking to John and Tanya about the idea of him retiring to Newsells Park Stud for some years. We foaled and reared him and I think that’s been really important to the guys here. You know, a lot of the people on the staff remember him as a foal. He was always a standout out foal and standout yearling. To have him back after a successful racing career is very special.”

He continues, “We always like to support our stallions and we are sending seven or eight of our nice mares to him. And the Gunthers are getting right behind him with the majority of their European mares. John and Tanya are about as passionate owner/breeders as it’s possible to be. When Tanya comes to see her horses, which unfortunately in the last year has been difficult for her with COVID restrictions, the one thing I take away is just how much she loves the horses. And John is absolutely passionate about Frankel, always has been, and this horse Without Parole especially. So they have really got behind him with with some of their very best European-based mares and there’s some very shrewd breeders who are coming in behind him, buying the breeding rights that are available, which is great. He’s filling up well.”

Among the mares which the Gunthers plan to send to Without Parole are Beyond The Sea (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a winning half-sister to GI American Oaks winner Competitionofideas (Speightstown), who has a Kingman (GB) yearling and is back in foal to the Juddmonte stallion. Mama Tembu (Street Cry {Ire}), a half-sister to Justify’s dam Stage Magic (Ghostzapper), is also on the list, while listed South Beach S. winner Atomic Blonde (Scat Daddy) will be shipped from Glennwood Farm to be covered.

“We have two mares leaving this week from America and there’s another we’re looking at at the January Sale,” Gunther says. “We don’t go crazy buying a bunch of expensive mares but we think we have some good mares within our own stock and we’re going to utilise them. We have eight pencilled in so far. For us that’s a huge number as our broodmare band is not that big so the vast majority of our European mares will go to him. But we’re not just throwing everything at him, we want to breed the right horse.”

Without Parole’s first book will also have rarity value in the inclusion of Newsells Park Stud’s Date With Destiny (Ire), the sole offspring of George Washington (Ire) who was listed-placed herself and is the dam of Group 3 winner Beautiful Morning (GB), who is by Without Parole’s grandsire Galileo (Ire).

His arrival augments the Galileo blood already on offer at Newsells Park Stud via its proven stallion Nathaniel (Ire). To refer to the latter merely as the sire of Enable (GB) is to do Frankel’s old sparring partner a disservice as he also has the Group 1 winners God Given (GB) and Channel (Ire) to his credit, as well as a growing number of group winners in Australia as well as a burgeoning reputation of classy National Hunt stock.

“He’s been so genuine and consistent. I’ve got a big soft spot for him,” says Dollar of the 13-year-old. “Nathaniel was a mile and a quarter, mile and a half horse, and he’s definitely throwing that stamina influence, whereas, I think Without Parole really did have a turn of foot. He was electric as a 3-year-old coming into St. James’s Palace Stakes. I mean, he had a Timeform rating of 117 on his second run, which was almost unheard of. He won the Heron Stakes, and then went on to win the St. James’s Palace. He’s a proper miler and he comes from a great American speed family as well. So I think he’s got much more of an influence for speed than maybe some other sons of Frankel.”

Within the 1,200 acres of the Royston-based Newsells Park Stud, Without You Babe remains a permanent boarder, and her yearling this year is a full-brother to Without Parole.

“She’s a lovely producer, a very consistent producer,” says Dollar. “She had Tamarkuz with her first foal and she just seems to be one of those that hits a home run with with every one of her babies. She’s got a super temperament and she seems to have passed on to Without Parole.”

For the Gunthers, Without Parole is the latest name on the list of stallions from their boutique breeding operation which, along with the aforementioned Justify, Tamarkuz and Stay Thirsty, includes GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso (Curlin)—another from that extraordinary crop of 2015—as well as Mo Town (Uncle Mo) and First Samurai (Giant’s Causeway).

Tanya Gunther says, “We had our first Justify foals last year and we’ll have our first Vino Rosso foals this year, then Without Parole next year. It’s really a very exciting time.”

A selection of mares being sent to Without Parole by Glennwood Farm and Newsells Park Stud:

Dawn To Dance (Ire) (Selkirk): dam of Group 3 winner and 2021 Classic contender Policy Of Truth (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}).

Mama Tembu (Street Cry {Ire}): half-sister to the dam of Justify, currently in foal to Kingman.

Beyond The Sea (Sea The Stars {Ire}): half-sister to G1W Competitionofideas (Speightstown), currently in foal to Kingman.

Atomic Blonde (Scat Daddy): stakes winner, maiden mare travelling from America.

Church On Time (Honor Code): half-sister to G1W Competitionofideas, maiden mare travelling from America.

Cubit (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}): recent December Sale purchase from Juddmonte, a half-sister to G3W Monarchs Glen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) from the family of G1 Prix de Diane winner Nebraska Tornado (Storm Cat).

Don’t Cry For Me (Street Cry {Ire}): dual winner and black-type producer.

Pretty Paper (Medaglia d’Oro): half-sister to G1-placed Bookrunner (Tiznow) from family of dual GIW Good Magic (Curlin).

As Good As Gold (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}): half-sister to Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) from the family of Quarter Moon (Ire) and Yesterday (Ire), she has a Frankel yearling and is in foal to Zoustar (Aus).

Date With Destiny (Ire) (GeorgeWashington {Ire}): stakes-placed dam of G3W Beautiful Morning (GB).

Dynaforce (Dynaformer): dual GIW and dam of listed winner Aljezeera (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Lady Eclair (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}): listed winner and dam of listed winner Al Malhouf (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}).

My Special J’s (Harlan’s Holiday): G2W and dam of stakes-placed Main Street (GB) (Street Cry {Ire}) and 94-rated My Frankel (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Skrei (Ire) (Approve {Ire}): listed winner from the family of G1W Lumiere (GB) (Shamardal).

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Juddmonte Doyen Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah Dead

His Highness Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, one of the most successful owner/breeders in the history of the sport through his Juddmonte Farms dynasty, died on Jan. 12 in his 84th year.

Prince Khalid’s famous green, pink and white silks have been immortalized in the annals of the sport, having been carried transatlantically by 118 Grade/Group 1 winners headed by champions like Frankel (GB), Dancing Brave (GB), Enable (GB) and Arrogate among many others. He campaigned over 500 stakes winners, of which he bred over 440.

Douglas Erskine Crum, chief executive officer of Juddmonte, said on Tuesday, “The whole of Juddmonte feels a huge sense of loss. Prince Khalid will always be remembered as a quiet, dignified, benevolent family man, whose horses spoke for him. He leaves a legacy that will stand the test of time. His contribution to the development of the Thoroughbred will have long-lasting effects.”

Prince Khalid bin Abdullah was born in 1937 in Saudi Arabia and was a member of the House Of Saud, the Saudi Royal family, his father Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman being a younger half-brother to King Abdulaziz, the founder and first monarch of Saudi Arabia. Prince Khalid studied in both Riyadh and the U.S. before going on to be an extremely successful businessman, chief among his accomplishments in that realm being the development of the private investment company Mawarid Holding, which has diverse portfolios in financial services, manufacturing, construction, medical supplies, telecommunications, the media and more.

Despite Prince Khalid’s extensive business successes, he will perhaps be best remembered for his profound contributions to the Thoroughbred breed. The foundation for the quality that has reverberated unrelentingly throughout the Juddmonte genes over the past 40-plus years was laid right from the outset. Prince Khalid bought his first yearlings in 1978 and the following year, his advisors Humphrey Cottrill and James Delahooke signed for the two most expensive yearlings at the Tattersalls Houghton Sale, including the record-priced Sand Hawk (GB) (Grundy {GB}) at 264,000gns. While Sand Hawk would fail to truly build on his promise, an In Reality colt selected at Keeneland the same year certainly did not: Known Fact would, in 1980, became Prince Khalid’s first Classic winner in the G1 2000 Guineas less than a year after his silks had graced a winner’s enclosure for the first time atop Charming Native (Princely Native) in a Windsor maiden race. In the interim, Prince Khalid had also notched a first Royal Ascot win with Abeer (Dewan) in the G3 Queen Mary S. in addition to Known Fact’s scores at two in the Mill Reef S. and Middle Park S. On the occasion of Known Fact’s Guineas victory, Prince Khalid became the first Arab owner to win a British Classic, a realm in which he went on to garner plenty of competition, with the Maktoum family making their entrance to the sport only a short time later.

Known Fact went on to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and earn champion miler honors for trainer Jeremy Tree before retiring as a foundation sire to Juddmonte’s nursery in Wargrave-upon-Thames in Berkshire. He relocated in 1987 to Juddmonte’s American division at the former Belair Farm south of Lexington, which Prince Khalid had purchased in 1982. Known Fact’s stud career was highlighted by Gerald Leigh’s champion miler Markofdistinction (GB) and Warning (GB), a top 2-year-old who went on to win the G1 Sussex S. and Queen Elizabeth II S. for Prince Khalid and sire five Group 1 winners from Banstead Manor Stud.

In the meantime, the fillies recruited during Prince Khalid’s formative years as an owner were sowing the seeds of a broodmare band of nearly unprecedented proportions. Prince Khalid’s first homebred winner came in the form of Fine Edge (GB) at Newmarket in 1982. The prior year, Prince Khalid had privately purchased Slightly Dangerous (Roberto) after she had won the G3 Fred Darling S. at two for trainer Barry Hills, and she became the dam of Prince Khalid’s dual Group 1 winner Warning as well as Prince Khalid’s 1993 Derby winner Commander In Chief (GB), by his great G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Dancing Brave (Lyphard). Slightly Dangerous also left behind the Group 2 winner and sire Dushyantor (Sadler’s Wells) and the GI Flower Bowl scorer and multiple Classic-placed Yashmak (Danzig), herself the dam of G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Full Mast (Mizzen Mast).

Other fillies accrued during this era whose names still feature in the pedigrees of Juddmonte-bred luminaries today include Monroe (Sir Ivor, out of Best In Show), whose descendants include Prince Khalid’s Logician (GB), Xaar (GB), Bated Breath (GB), Cityscape (GB) and Close Hatches; and Sookera (Roberto), who among many other notable stakes winners is the second dam of Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}), who produced a remarkable five homebred Grade/Group 1 winners for Prince Khalid-Champs Elysees (GB), Intercontinential (GB), Banks Hill (GB), Cacique (Ire) and Heat Haze (GB). All bar Heat Haze (Green Desert) were by another Prince Khalid homebred, Danehill (Danzig). Champs Elysees and Cacique both stood at Juddmonte’s Banstead Manor Stud alongside their full-brother Dansili (GB). Frankel (GB) is a great-grandson of Rockfest (Stage Door Johnny), who was purchased from Jock Whitney, while Enable’s fourth dam Fleet Girl (Ire) (Habitat) was part of a handful of mares that were included in the Belair Farm deal. Prince Khalid purchased Mofida (GB) (Right Tack {GB}) in foal to The Minstrel from Robert Sangster in 1981. The resulting filly was Zaizafon, who would produce the sires Zafonic and Zamindar. The stakes-winning Bahamian (Ire) (Mill Reef) was a 310,000gns yearling purchase in 1986, and she went on to produce the G1 Irish Oaks winner Wemyss Bight (GB) (Dancing Brave) and is the ancestress of two of Juddmonte’s best sires, Oasis Dream (GB) and Kingman (GB).

All the while as his homebred stock began to step out, Prince Khalid continued to supplement his program with yearlings purchased at the sales. Pivotal among those was Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}), from the family of Slightly Dangerous and bought by James Delahooke for $950,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s July Yearling Sale in 1982. Rainbow Quest was good for Jeremy Tree at two and three but blossomed into a champion at four to win the G1 Coronation Cup and the Arc. Rainbow Quest was honored by Timeform as the first horse since Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard (GB) to earn a rating of at least 130 at ages two, three and four.

Prince Khalid had purchased Banstead Manor Stud near Newmarket in 1987, and thus Rainbow Quest was the perfect candidate to be its foundation sire. Rainbow Quest was an immediate hit, siring three Group 1 winners from his first crop including Quest For Fame (GB), who won the 1990 Derby for Khalid Abdullah and Roger Charlton and was the first of three winners of the blue riband for his owner, later joined by Commander In Chief (GB) (Dancing Brave) for Sir Henry Cecil in 1993 and Workforce (GB) (King’s Best) in 2010 for Sir Michael Stoute.

As Rainbow Quest was fulfilling his prophecy on the racecourse, Delahooke ventured back to Kentucky for the Keeneland July Sale in 1984, where he selected a bay son of Lyphard for $200,000. Put into training at two with Guy Harwood, the colt named Dancing Brave won a pair of conditions races at two, and while Prince Khalid also campaigned that year’s G1 William Hill Futurity winner Bakharoff (The Minstrel), it was no secret who was regarded as the better. Dancing Brave fulfilled all the hopes and expectations placed on him at three, taking the 2000 Guineas, Eclipse S., King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and the Arc. His only losses came in the Derby after a luckless run and the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf. Dancing Brave was unanimously voted the 1986 Horse of the Year.

Dancing Brave took up residence at Darley’s Dalham Hall, where Prince Khalid supported him with great success, breeding the 1993 Derby winner Commander In Chief and the same year’s Irish Oaks victress Wemyss Bight.

While that accomplishment was excellent on its own merits, Dancing Brave’s record as a sire paled in comparison to what Prince Khalid achieved with another colt sent away from home to stand at stud: Danehill. Bred by Prince Khalid out of Razyana (His Majesty), Danehill was placed in the 2000 Guineas before winning the G3 Cork and Orrery S. (now the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot) and the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup for Jeremy Tree. Danehill was snapped up for a wildly successful transcontinental shuttle career by Coolmore; his record of 84 Group 1 winners was surpassed just last year by Galileo (Ire). Like Dancing Brave, Juddmonte patronised Danehill plenty, their many stakes winners by the sire including Frankel’s listed-winning dam Kind (Ire).

With the retirement of Jeremy Tree in the 1989, a handful of trainers came to the fore who would be pivotal in shaping the Juddmonte dynasty, including Tree’s Beckhampton successor Roger Charlton, who enjoyed immediate success with G1 Prix du Jockey Club scorer Sanglamore and Derby victor Quest For Fame in the same season; and Andre Fabre, whose standouts in the pink, white and green were headed by the Classic and four-time Group 1 winner Zafonic. But the two training titans most closely associated with Prince Khalid in the post-Tree era were Sir Henry Cecil and Bobby Frankel. And while the two men could hardly be more different by nature, they will be inextricably linked in history by the greatest horse that Prince Khalid-and, perhaps, anyone-ever produced.

A common feature of Prince Khalid’s racing program was his enjoyment and patronage of American racing, and in addition to those he bred in Kentucky, Prince Khalid sent many a European-trained runner across the Atlantic to try their hand on the American turf. John Gosden, who has now trained for Prince Khalid for nearly 40 years, was the recipient of many of those runners when based in California in the 1980s, and upon his return to Newmarket it was the New Yorker Bobby Frankel who was the main beneficiary. Incidentally, one of the most influential mares to come through Prince Khalid’s program started out in Europe with Gosden before later joining Frankel in California. Her name was Toussaud (El Gran Senor), and she won the GI Gamely H. before throwing four Grade I winners headed by GI Belmont S. winner and sire Empire Maker (Unbridled)-his 13 Grade I winners as a sire include Juddmonte’s four-time top-level winner Emollient–and Honest Lady (Seattle Slew), who is also the dam of First Defence, who in turn sired Prince Khalid’s 2020 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Siskin as well as five-time Grade I winner Close Hatches. Other Juddmonte standouts trained by Frankel included Sightseek (Distant View), Exbourne (Explodent), Marquetry (Conquistador Cielo), Ventura (Chester House), Midships (Mizzen Mast) and Champs Elysees.

When Bobby Frankel died in 2009, Khalid Abdullah set out to select a colt of the highest quality to name in his honor. The man that would have the honor of training the colt was Sir Henry Cecil, who had already repaid Prince Khalid’s patronage with the 1993 Derby victory of Commander In Chief, the 1997 Oaks score of Reams Of Verse and the 1000 Guineas win of Wince in 1999, as well as multiple Group 1 winners like Passage Of Time (GB), Midday (GB) and Twice Over (GB) into the 21st century. But the horse for whom they will both be best remembered hadn’t yet stepped foot on a racecourse. But he was well worth the wait.

A third generation Juddmonte homebred by Galileo, Frankel (Ire) set the stage with a four-race undefeated juvenile campaign in 2010, but few likely could have predicted, or dared to dream of, what would come next. After winning the G3 Greenham S. by four lengths, Frankel took control of the 2000 Guineas from the break and sprinted the mile on a loose rein, winning by a jaw-dropping six lengths. He would go on to add the G1 St James’s Palace S., G1 Sussex S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. by season’s end. After absolutely thrashing the opposition in the G1 Lockinge S., G1 Queen Anne S. and the Sussex the following summer, he stepped up in trip to similarly dominate the G1 Juddmonte International and the G1 Champion S. Frankel is said to have been the exact dose of medicine Sir Henry needed while battling cancer, and the beloved Newmarket trainer sadly died a year and a half after Frankel left his care on June 11, 2013. Frankel is the horse that both Cecil and Abdullah will be best remembered for. But one thing Prince Khalid will never be forgotten for among racing circles is how he stood by Cecil through thick and thin, including his well documented personal and professional struggles of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Prince Khalid’s embarrassment of success on the racecourse is the mark of his success in sport and business. His fierce belief in and loyalty to a man that had served him so well is the sign of the true honour with which he conducted himself.

Just like his trainer and now his owner, Frankel’s legacy lives on and continues to build; he has made an explosive start at stud and his Group 1 winners include Khalid Abdullah homebreds Logician (GB), winner of the 2019 G1 St Leger for John Gosden, and Quadrilateral (GB), the champion 2-year-old filly of 2019 trained by Roger Charlton at Beckhampton, right back where it all began.

As Frankel was quietly building up to his racecourse debut in 2010, Workforce was working his way through a memorable 3-year-old campaign for Prince Khalid from the yard of Sir Michael Stoute. In May he handed his breeder his third win in the Derby in just his third start, and he would become Prince Khalid’s fourth Arc winner, joining Rainbow Quest (1985), Dancing Brave (1986) and Rail Link (GB) (Dansili {GB}) (2006). The Prince came desperately close to getting another when Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) finished runner-up in both 2014 and 2015 in the midst of a campaign that saw him win five Grade/Group 1s in three different countries. At the same time, Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was stringing together a stellar 3-year-old campaign for John Gosden in 2014, winning the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, G1 St James’s Palace S., G1 Sussex S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and earning Cartier Horse of the Year honours. Like Frankel, he has made an excellent start to his stud career, with three Group 1 winners including last year’s Cartier champion 3-year-old Palace Pier (GB).

Meanwhile, the career of another Juddmonte superstar was budding in the U.S. Following the death of Bobby Frankel, Prince Khalid spread his American-based horses mostly among Bob Baffert and Chad Brown, and in addition put in place a new business plan that saw him supplement his homebred program with a handful of colts purchased at auction and bred for the top dirt races. His team spent $560,000 at Keeneland September in 2014 on a grey colt by Unbridled’s Song that they dispatched to Baffert. After quietly building up the colt with a gradual introduction in Southern California, Baffert sent Arrogate to Saratoga for his stakes debut in the GI Travers in 2016. Arrogate absolutely demolished the opposition in track record time at 11-1, and built on that effort with sublime performances in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, GI Pegasus World Cup and GI Dubai World Cup, in the latter stumbling out of the gate and sitting last before circling the entire field. Arrogate will be represented by his first runners this year, and if he passes a modicum of his talent onto his progeny his untimely death last June at the age of seven will prove a huge blow.

By the time Arrogate’s racing career was winding down in the autumn of 2017, Prince Khalid had yet another superstar very much out in the open in Europe with Gosden. Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) had made her considerable talent well known with a five-length romp in the G1 Epsom Oaks, and by season’s end had compiled a glowing record after adding wins in the G1 Irish Oaks, G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., G1 Yorkshire Oaks and the Arc. It is a nod to just how remarkable Enable was, however, that by the time she retired from racing another three last years later last autumn, those lofty 3-year-old accomplishments seemed a distant memory. After missing most of her 4-year-old campaign due to setbacks, Enable pulled off an incredible Arc double off just one prep race before shipping to Churchill Downs to take the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf on the same card that Prince Khalid won the GI Mile with another homebred, Expert Eye (GB). A much more traditional campaign at five saw Enable take the G1 Coral-Eclipse, and a second King George and Yorkshire Oaks, but the very soft going likely contributed to her unraveling in the very late stages of her third Arc attempt and succumbing to Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

It was widely assumed that Enable would now be headed off to join Prince Khalid’s broodmare band, his decision in keeping his precious mare in training until five being such a sporting one. But in confirming that Enable would try once again for a historic third Arc in 2020, Prince Khalid laid bare his love for the sport that had been so good to him, and he it. Enable indeed did record a historic treble, but it was in the King George, with the great mare managing just sixth in another soft-ground Arc on Oct. 4. She was retired thereafter with 15 wins from 19 starts, including 11 Group 1s, and earnings of over £9.6-million. She is set to visit Kingman for her first mating this spring.

That resulting foal, the progeny of two Horses of the Year, will be incredibly anticipated by many. Such is the breadth of Prince Khalid bin Abdullah’s Juddmonte legacy, however, that he or she will be but one small bud on a towering oak that branches off in so many directions. Today, Juddmonte stands six Grade/Group 1 winners and/or sires in two countries. Its consignments of fillies and mares at Tattersalls, annually without fail, draws a vibrant international crowd ringside, all intoxicated by the notion that they may be able to capture a small piece of that Juddmonte magic for themselves. Many have.

The enormity of the loss of His Highness Prince Khalid bin Abdullah to the global Thoroughbred industry is immeasurable. He was a sportsman who loved the game of racing and breeding and the challenge of matching up his homebreds to produce superior athletes. It is quite possible we will never again see his equal. But as many of Prince Khalid’s lines continue to grow strong after 40 years, it is likely we will be paying homage to him for many generations to come.

Charlton Leads Tributes To Prince Khalid Abdullah

Roger Charlton, who trained Quest For Fame (GB) and Sanglamore to win the Derby and Prix du Jockey Club for Juddmonte in 1990, said on Sky Sports Racing, “I think the whole of the racing industry appreciates what Prince Khalid achieved with Juddmonte Farms. Life is full of luck and being in the right place at the right time and how lucky was I? He was a wonderful owner to deal with and I owe him everything. It’s a huge loss.

“He was always a great pleasure to talk to before a race and/or after a race, and of course he was hugely knowledgeable. He had huge passion for it and I think that’s really important. Any owner/breeder goes through rough patches, bad horses, bad stallions, but his passion was always there right to the end. It was marvellous that he had horses like Arrogate, Kingman, Frankel and Enable towards the end. It was a real testament to a fantastic operation.

“Generally speaking it’s fair to say that every trainer, jockey, breeder and owner in this country had immense respect for Prince Khalid. I don’t think too many people ever found fault with what he did. He was generous, in sponsoring some great races as well as owning horses. His life was full of great credit and he was very humble.

“He was a colossal contributor to racing. I shall personally miss him a lot and I’m forever grateful that I’ve been able to train the horses that I have.”

John Gosden, trainer of Enable (GB), Kingman (GB) and Oasis Dream (GB), reflected, “He sparked an interest going racing in Paris in the 1950s and then some 15 or 20 years later decided to set up a breeding operation with Jeremy Tree as his advisor. What he created in the first 20 years, never mind 40 years, is beyond extraordinary, and to be a leading owner in Europe and America within the period he did it speaks bounds for his knowledge and his strategic approach. He knew the pedigrees of his horses inside out—you could never catch him out on pedigrees.

“He was the most charming man. He was incredibly humorous, steely, tough— you’d better be on your mettle with him—but the most amazing man to train for. We all had an awful lot of fun together because he enjoyed being with the horses. It was his passion and he always referred to it as his one great luxury.

“Prince Khalid wasn’t particularly well while Kingman was racing but he was in Deauville when he won the Jacques le Marois. He didn’t come to the races but he came to the stables a couple of hours later and we stood the horse up for him and he stood there and looked at the horse, walked around him and patted him. He had the most wonderful affinity with horses. With Enable, he saw her in the Arc in 2018 and he enjoyed that very much but he was quite fragile by that stage and we never saw him at the races after that, but he watched every race on television.”

Dermot Weld, trainer of Emulous (GB) and Famous Name (GB), said, “I’d like to extend my sympathy firstly to his family. He is a huge loss to the racing industry because he was one of the pillars of the breeding industry in the world for the last 50 years. He was the man who raced Frankel, Kingman, Enable, and he gave us though this brilliance these wonderful horses to enjoy.

“Two words I’d like to say: when you talk about Juddmonte you talk about excellence, and when you talk about Prince Khalid you talk about loyalty. In this changing world this was a great quality that shone out from the man.”

Bob Baffert, trainer of Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup winner Arrogate, told Sky Sports Racing, “He was definitely one of the titans of racing. He was such a gentleman, a really low-key kind of guy who trusted his trainers. The biggest compliment a horse trainer in America could get is if he wanted you to train his horses.”

Lady Jane Cecil, trainer of G1 Champion S. winner Noble Mission (GB), reflected on the longstanding relationship between Prince Khalid and her late husband, Sir Henry Cecil. She said, “They had a special friendship which meant a great deal to Henry. They were very different but they got on very well and I think Henry amused the Prince.

“[The Prince] was so loyal. Imagine him allowing me to train Noble Mission. He’s Frankel’s full-brother and with him allowing me to do that, and being loyal and supportive, which of course was an extension of his loyalty to Henry, it meant that Warren Place had that fantastic day at Ascot which will live with me forever.”

Frankie Dettori: “He was a great of the sport. I had one of my early Group 1s aboard a horse he owned called Ryafan in the Prix Marcel Boussac, who was trained by John [Gosden]. He was amazing and a true giant of the sport. You could go on naming all the great horses he has owned, but you would have to say Enable, Frankel and Dancing Brave are the three that stand out.

“Enable will always be the apple of my eye and the last time I saw him was when she won her second Arc. He was a real gentleman and he loved his horses. He was very passionate and knowledgeable about them and the results speak for themselves. What he has done for the whole industry is fantastic.

“Though Enable will always stand out to me, Frankel will always be the best horse that I’ve seen and have had to race against. I went to see Dancing Brave win the 2000 Guineas in 1986–I wasn’t riding then and he was incredible. He was then beaten in that famous Derby before winning the King George and the Arc.

“I grew up in an era watching horses like Dancing Brave win and you were always very excited that one day you might get to wear those silks–ones that had been associated with such great success.”

Tom Queally, rider of Frankel: “I was very fortunate and lucky to ride dozens of pattern race winners for Prince Khalid throughout my career. He was a gentleman to ride for, his Juddmonte operation has been a huge success and leaves a legacy which will live on for a long time. I was very lucky to ride what was arguably his best horse. It was the work of years and years of breeding to produce a horse with the excellence of Frankel.

“His loyalty to Sir Henry Cecil through all the ups and downs was very admirable. That loyal patronage paid off in the best possible way you could have imagined with Frankel. He had a great understanding of horses and was very easy to deal with and very approachable. It’s a sad day and my thoughts go out to his family and friends and everyone that worked for him. I will look back with great pride that I had some involvement with him.”

Andre Fabre: “It’s a great loss for everyone. Personally he had the sort of charm that made you want to do well for him, though he was a quiet man. I was lucky enough to train a lot of great horses for him. Above all, he was a man that everyone respected and loved. It is bad news.

Chad Brown via Twitter: “Prince Khalid was the definition of class and sportsmanship. It was one of the greatest honors of my life to be asked to train horses for him…the phone call every trainer has dreamed of getting. He raised the bar to unthinkable heights, always putting the horse first. RIP.”

Statement from Breeders’ Cup: “Prince Khalid bin Abdullah was one of the world’s most passionate and influential leaders in Thoroughbred racing and breeding, and one who exemplified great dignity and class. Prince Khalid was an early advocate and staunch supporter of the Breeders’ Cup program and became one of its most ardent and successful owners. Under the banner of Juddmonte Farms, racing fans were thrilled by the magnificent performances of Arrogate and Enable, among the Prince’s seven Breeders’ Cup champions, and by the brilliance of Frankel, and many others on the international scene. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and to his dedicated management and staff.”

Statement from Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson: “Thoroughbred racing and breeding icons like Prince Khalid bin Abdullah are few and far between. For decades, the Juddmonte Farms racing and breeding operation has represented top-class on an international stage thanks to the vision and dedication of Prince Khalid. His unforgettable pink, green and white silks made numerous trips to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle with regally-bred horses–from 2001 Kentucky Oaks winner Flute to 2018 Breeders’ Cup Turf champion Enable–and they are fondly remembered by the Churchill Downs family as part of his significant legacy.”

Statement from National Thoroughbred Racing Association President Alex Waldrop: “The contributions of Prince Khalid bin Abdullah to the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry over the past 40 years will be felt for generations to come. From Empire Maker to Frankel to Enable, his operation produced many of this sport’s all-time greats who carried his famous green, pink and white silks to victory in the world’s most prestigious races. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and the entire Juddmonte Farms team.”

Keeneland President and Chief Executive Officer Shannon Arvin: “Prince Khalid bin Abdullah was foremost a man of extraordinary class, and the excellence he achieved in Thoroughbred racing and breeding globally will continue to influence the breed for generations. Though he was a major presence on the international stage, we at Keeneland treasure the long friendship we enjoyed with Prince Khalid. His Juddmonte Farms is a prominent consignor and buyer at Keeneland sales, where he bought Known Fact, one of his earliest classic winners, at the 1978 July Selected Yearling Sale, and purchased his champion and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Arrogate at the 2014 September Yearling Sale. Juddmonte Farms has also strongly supported Keeneland’s philanthropic mission and its racing program as sponsor of the Grade I Juddmonte Spinster since 2005. Prince Khalid’s distinctive pink, green and white silks have been carried to numerous wins at Keeneland, earning for him a Keeneland Tray as part of the track’s distinguished Milestone Trophy Program. On behalf of Keeneland, we extend our deepest condolences to Prince Khalid’s family and the entire Juddmonte Farms team.”

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