Tag: gold cup

“Everyone Is Welcome,” – Opportunity Knocks On La Route Des Etalons

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does.
Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr) but the cream was still provided with the right chance to rise to the top here.

A similar story was shared on one of the final stops of this year's Route des Etalons at Haras de Montaigu as the stud's Mathieu Leffray, along with his brother and father, sourced a mare by the name of Idaho Falls (Fr) for the miserly sum of €500 from the French equivalent of Done Deal.


What has that got to do with anything, you might ask? Because it was Idaho Falls who went on to produce multiple Grade 1-winning chaser Allaho (Fr), the highest-rated son of Haras de Montaigu's No Risk At All (Fr), who played a starring role on the Route des Etalons.

No Risk At All has proven his versatility as a jumps sire given he is also responsible for Champion Hurdle-winning mare Epatante (Fr) and, as he stood proud in the French sunshine, another high-class prospect, Allegorie De Vassy (Fr), hardened her reputation for Cheltenham Festival honours when winning by a street at Thurles.

Opportunity does not just knock for the National Hunt breeder alone at Haras de Montaigu, either, with G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Dabirsim (Fr) new to the roster, as Emma Berry highlighted in her preview of La Route.

Along with the opportunities available to Flat an National Hunt breeders in France, another thing that quickly became apparent whilst touring through Normandie was how interconnected the breeding sector is, with every stud playing host to a foreign-registered vehicle and many of the same faces who toured the Irish Stallion Trail a week previously spotted in attendance.

One man in particular who reported an increased level of international traffic, largely down to young sires Persian King and Hello Youmzain, was Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham. A strapping son of Kingman (GB), the French 2,000 Guineas winner Persian King is quite the contrast to the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), but both stallions, whose foals sold well in 2022, compliment each other at stud.

“We have great expectations for them,” de Chambure said. “We put in plenty of work in getting Persian King and Hello Youmzain purchased and then by putting the syndicate together to support them.

“When the foals arrived, it was the first step towards seeing a little bit more of them, and obviously the breeders had high expectations and they've met those expectations so we are very happy.
“Persian King and Hello Youmzain are very different horses. That is also why we took the risk to retire two horses in the same year because they have very different profiles and are from different sire lines.

“The foals also looked different and were what you'd expect from their stallions. We will keep a good eye on them throughout the spring and right up to the yearling sales. That's going to be very important for them and then hopefully they will be spread out among good trainers around Europe. We will be supporting them as well.”

De Chambure added, “The fact that British and Irish breeders can see that these good French sires have appeal to the main pinhookers and trainers in the industry, I think that will give them the confidence to increase their trust in these French stallions on the whole. It has been very positive.”

Etreham also has the first 2-year-olds by City Light (Fr), a smart miler by Siyouni (Fr), to look forward to in 2023 while, interestingly, de Chambure revealed that breeders are now adopting a different approach to the mares they are sending to Almanzor (Fr).

He explained, “City Light has over 90 2-year-olds to run this season and, being a son of Siyouni, there is a bit of a buzz about him. The first reports are positive. His 2-year-olds are quite racey and, by the end of the year, we can expect them to be showing what they can do because they should be 2-year-olds.

“Almanzor has four or five exciting horses who have just turned three. He has an important year ahead of him but I think he has the numbers coming and breeders have adapted in the mares that they have been sending him. We are going to continue to see him improve and his next big horse is just around the corner, I am sure of that.”

That horse could well be the Aga Khan's Rajapour (Ire), unbeaten in three starts at two and, crucially, hailing from the smart Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) mare Raydara (Ire), who is exactly the type de Chambure will be encouraging breeders to send Almonzor going forward.

“We were all a bit surprised that Almanzor had been throwing some size and, from his first crop, we got a few who were a bit big and backward. We all realised that and, even though they were like that, he showed that he can sire a really good horse. They can quicken and they have a turn of foot. Most of the breeders, the mares they have sent him now have a bit more speed and are more short-coupled, and we have seen the difference in the progeny.”

a half an hour down the road from Etreham, some of the finest National Hunt sires standing in France were on show Haras de la Hetraie , including Gold Cup-producing Kapgarde (Fr), whose Fakir D'Oudaires (Fr) took the feature G2 Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles on Sunday.

The sire of last year's Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard (Fr) was joined in parade by fellow accomplished National Hunt stallion Great Pretender (Ire), best known for being the sire of Benie Des Dieux (Fr) and Greaneteen (Fr).

But it wasn't all about the stallions at Haras de la Hetraie, as not only did the stud offer top-notch entertainment when For Fun (Fr) lived up to his name by trying his hardest to break away from his handler, but the spread on offer was not bettered on the trip.

If it's French onion soup made by the boss himself, Pascal Noue, a fine selection of cured meats and enough oysters to feed a small village, Haras de la Hetraie was worth the trip even for those who hadn't got a mare in tow.

However, the majority of the people who made the trip to Sumbe were there in a professional capacity, according to Mathieu Le Forestier, nominations and racing manager at the stud, who reported that a lot of business had been done across the two days.

Easy to see why. Horses like Mishriff (Ire) don't retire to stud very often and, despite the fact that his debut season will be interrupted due to a slight setback, Le Forestier explained how interest in the stallion has not dwindled in the slightest because of it.

He said, “We envisage him covering 140 mares this year, which is a good number. The Prince [Faisal] will send him 35 to 40 mares of his own, which leaves about 100 nominations in Mishriff. “There have been virtually no cancellations from breeders after we announced his setback and the interest in him did not wane. We expect that he will resume covering on Mar. 15 and we don't see it being a big issue, except maybe for in the case of maiden mares.


“There aren't many alternatives to a horse of the quality Mishriff has in France and we have waited a long time to have a freshman with credentials as good as he has in the stud book here. Selling him is not the hardest job in my life.

“The good thing about Mishriff and Golden Horde (Ire) here at Sumbe is that they do the talking. We have done a lot of business over the past two days. There have not been many passers by and most of the people that have come here have been serious breeders.”

On the 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde, who stands for €8,000, he added, “Golden Horde has been popular. He'll have good numbers but, most importantly, the right blend of people who breed to race and those who breed to sell have used him. We have 15 yearlings by him that we plan to race and they will be divided up between Andre Fabre, Jean-Claude Rouget, Roger Varian and Clive Cox.”

The sentiments shared by Le Forestier about Mishriff were be echoed by Mathieu Alex at Haras de Beaumont about G1 Qipco Champion S. winner Sealiway, set to stand for €12,000 this season, and very much the pride and joy of Pauline Cheboub's operation.

Asked if there had been much international interest at Haras de Beaumont on Saturday and Sunday, Alex said, “Yes, German, Irish, English, Swedish, Danish, American–we have had plenty of interest. This is business but also, and this is very important, the Route des Etalons gives us a chance to open our doors to the public and the industry needs that. Tourists, neighbors, it doesn't matter, everyone is welcome and we have to open the doors and explain our game. We have to show them that we love our horses. We have a mission.”

He added, “Sealiway was a champion two-year-old, which is extremely important nowadays. He won a Group 1 in England, the Champion S., where he beat three Classic winners, so he is a serious horse for France. That type of horse usually retires somewhere else. This place is for him. If it wasn't for him, none of this would be here. He's an extremely important horse and stallions like him are extremely important for this country. You've seen it with Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), Wootton Bassett (GB), the whole country is propped up by them because they attract breeders from abroad. Also, they prop up the sales. So we need stallions like that.

“There has been a short-supply of top-class stallions in France and then we had three or four good ones at the same time. I don't know why that is. Siyouni is getting old, Le Havre is dead and now Wootton Bassett is gone. There is an opening and we need new good ones coming through. French people know that and, without mares, it doesn't matter how good Sealiway is, we need the mares. We are in the process of sorting out the mares for him this year and the important thing is numbers.”

If La Hetraie boasted the best food of the tour, well then the biggest crowd was recorded at Haras de Bonneval, where over 100 people turned out to see Siyouni and co strut their stuff during one of the afternoon sessions on Saturday.

Siyouni may have been the star attraction but Zarak (Fr), one of the hottest properties the country has to offer and set to stand for €60,000 this term, sent tongues wagging. Even Alain De Royer-Dupre turned out to say a few words about his Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire) who has quickly made his mark at stud.


One of the more famous studs in France, Haras de Bouquetot, were provided with an opportunity to showcase some of its newbies, with Galileo Gold (GB) having made the move from Tally-Ho to stand alongside fellow newcomer Thunder Moon (Ire). Armor (GB) should make plenty of appeal to breeders, being a speedy son of No Nay Never, but there was no doubting the star attraction, as Wooded (Ire) wowed everyone in attendance and makes plenty of sense at €12,000.

Whether you are a high-end breeder on the Flat, want to produce the next big jumping star or are in search of a bit of value over both codes, the 2023 Route des Etalons confirms that there is something for everyone in France.

Three takeaways from the Route des Etalons
After a helter-skelter two days touring some of the best studs in France, here are some takeaways from a memorable trip.

Important Newbies
Mathieu Alex obviously has a vested interest in seeing Sealiway succeed but he spoke frankly and honestly about the need for another superstar stallion in France.

Siyouni is obviously operating at his pomp and, if Zarak continues on the trajectory that he is on, he could well take over the mantle but the importance of horses like Sealiway and Mishriff entering the stud book in France cannot be understated. Let's hope they are a success as there is clearly an opening there.

Exciting Times For Haras d'Etreham
Haras de Etreham managed Wootton Bassett from a €6,000 freshman to becoming a €40,000 stallion after just seven seasons before Coolmore swooped in and secured a deal for him to stand in Ireland in 2021 where he stands to this day for a cool €150,000.

Have Etreham uncovered the next Wootton Bassett in either Persian King or Hello Youmzain? That is obviously an exceptionally high bar to aim for but the early signs are promising.

In Persian King, Etreham can offer breeders a quality son of Kingman who has plenty of size while Hello Youmzain is exactly what you'd expect one of the fastest sons of Kodiac to look like.
The first foals by both stallions went down well in 2022, with some notable names signing for the progeny of the two, and it appears as though the future is bright for everyone at the famous French stud.

Dominance Of The Jumps
The dominance of the French-breds over jumps in Britain and Ireland is nothing new and a major highlight of the trip was getting the chance to see Kapgarde and No Risk At All in the flesh.
On Saturday, the Willie Mullins-trained It's For Me (Fr) (Jeu St Eloi {Fr}) shot to the head of the Champion Bumper betting when bolting up in a Navan bumper for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Jeu St Eloi is more or less an unknown as a stallion in Britain and Ireland, which goes back to the point made about France's ability as a nation to churn out top-class horses time and time again from relatively obscure origins.


Beaumec De Houelle (Fr) could be the next sleeper of a stallion for National Hunt breeders to take note of. One of the only sons of Martaline (GB) to stand in France, he won five of his six starts, including the G1 three-year-old hurdle at Auteuil in 2018.

Of course, jumps horses retiring to stud is nothing new in France, with Balko being another example, whereas it is quite rare in Ireland. Apart from Nickname, few entires have competed at the highest level, although who's to say what heights Sir Eric would have reached had he not suffered a fatal injury.

The French do things differently, that's for sure, and they are all the better for it. The proof, as they say, is in the eating, and there was a lot to digest on this trip.

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‘He Could Do Things Others Couldn’t’ – Davy Russell Retires

Gordon Elliott, Barry Geraghty and Charles Byrnes were among those to lead the tributes to Davy Russell, one of the finest National Hunt riders to ever pull on a pair of silks, who retired at the age of 43 after partnering Liberty Dance to victory in the Thurles feature on Sunday. 

Russell will forever be remembered for partnering Elliott's Tiger Roll to successive Grand National triumphs in 2018 and 2019. Like those momentous days at Aintree, Russell signed off from the saddle with his customary wave aboard the Elliott-trained Liberty Dance in the Billy Harney Memorial Irish EBF Mares' Novice Hurdle.

The most successful jockey of all time who was still active in the weighroom, Russell earned a reputation as being one of the finest riders at Cheltenham, evident when he guided Jim Culloty's Lord Windermere to Gold Cup success in 2014.

Close friend Elliott supplied the majority of Russell's Cheltenham winners and the Cullentra House-based trainer heaped praise on the rider following his decision to retire on the spot at Thurles.

Elliott said,  “The feedback he gave has always been invaluable. He has been a big part of the team here at Cullentra for the last 10 or 12 years–and he is still going to be part of the team. He's still going to have an involvement. Hopefully we will work closely with him, on what level we are just not quite sure yet, but he will still have something to do with it.”

He added, “He has been a big part of my team since I started training and he has been a friend as well as a colleague. I rode with him as an amateur. He has been as much a friend as anything else. He is a brilliant jockey and a great person. I'm sad to see him retiring but delighted to see him going out on his own terms.

“He's a brilliant jockey and a great horseman. He could do things on horses that other people couldn't. There was never anything wrong with the bottle. The body slowed down, but the bottle was 100 per cent and so it is very sad to see him go.

“He has brilliant hands and transmitted confidence to a horse, and you only have to look at what he has achieved to see what a great jockey he was. He was brilliant.”

Multiple Cheltenham festival and Grand National-winning rider Barry Geraghty shared the weigh room with Russell for the majority of his career and labelled him “a brilliant competitor and a brilliant jockey.”

Geraghty said, “He was as tough as nails in every sense, to ride against but also coming back from the injuries he's had to deal with.

“His CV speaks for itself, two Grand Nationals, a Gold Cup, multiple Cheltenham winners. He's been a multiple champion jockey in Ireland and a brilliant, brilliant jockey for years. It's great to see him finish on such a good note and he's definitely proved the longevity in him.”

Meanwhile, Byrnes, who Russell rode Solwhit and Weapon's Amnesty to major big-race victories for, described himself as “shocked” that the 43-year-old decided to call time on a wonderful career. 

Byrnes said, “I'm delighted he is getting out in one piece, but shocked because as far as I could see he's riding as well, if not better, than ever. He is getting out on his own terms and as far as I'm concerned, he'd probably be the greatest of all time–but I'd be slightly biased.

“That's my opinion. He had an unbelievable pair of hands to get a horse to settle, to get a horse jumping. You could nearly say whether a horse was going to win or not by jumping the first hurdle with him.

“You knew the flow and the rhythm he was in. He was an absolute genius. He worked hard, he deserved everything he's got–he worked hard all his life.”

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Staying Superstar Stradivarius Retired To Stud

Stradivarius, the three-time Gold Cup winner and the undisputed champion stayer of his generation, has been retired to stud. 

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won three Yorkshire Cups and two Doncaster Cups but will be best remembered for those epic Gold Cup triumphs at Ascot.

Owned by Bjorn Nielsen, who told TDN Europe about his intention to support the popular chestnut at stud upon his retirement, Stradivarius will join the roster at the National Stud. 

The 8-year-old bows out from the game as an eight-time Group 1 winner who won 20 of his 35 starts and netted connections almost £3.5million in prize-money.

While he didn't manage to win at the top level this season, he won a the G2 Yorkshire Cup on his seasonal return, and was last seen chasing home the new kid on the block, Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), in the G1 Goodwood Cup. 

Stradivarius was a late absentee in the Lonsdale Cup at York last month due to a bruised foot, with the horse taking longer than expected to recover from the problem.

“He has been trotting and cantering but it has taken longer to get over the bruised foot than we thought,” Nielsen said. 

“We felt it would be unfair to ask him to come back again as a 9-year-old next season after his enforced time off.

“It has been a fairytale from start to finish. Until this setback he had never been medicated and had never missed an engagement through injury.”

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‘He’s Absolutely Going To Cover Flat Mares Only’: Bjorn Nielsen on Stradivarius’s Future Stud Career

We have heard much about Frankie Dettori since his ride in the Gold Cup at Ascot, but less so about his luckless mount, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

By his owner and breeder Bjorn Nielsen he is referred to as 'The Strad', talked of as one would a favourite son or best friend. The 8-year-old stallion has earned his place in Nielsen's heart, just as he has earned the wider affection of the racing public. He remains equine box office, with this season regarded by many as a prolonged farewell tour. 

The fact that the longed-for fourth victory in the Gold Cup did not go to plan is of course a source of frustration for those directly involved with Stradivarius, particularly as Nielsen believes that the Gosdens had him note-perfect for his return to Ascot.

“John never really gets carried away beforehand saying anything's going to win but just reading between the lines, I know John felt like he had the horse absolutely spot on for that race,” he says. 

“I think it's been a remarkable job actually, by John and his staff, of keeping this horse on the go all these years and getting him to every race. It's the one great thing about John, if you have a top horse, he'll be there on the day. You don't have to worry about him being overdone or underdone. He's surely done that with The Strad's career throughout.”

And what a career it has been: 34 races to date, seven Group 1s among his 20 wins, nine more top-three finishes, and then there's the not insignificant matter of two Stayers' Million bonuses. Unfortunate timing for the enterprising folk at Weatherbys Hamilton who launched the initiative which sounded fiendishly difficult to win, but for it starting in the year in which Stradivarius really came into his own as a 4-year-old and sailed through a magnificent 2018 season unbeaten.

“He's happy in himself and he's eating well,” reports Nielsen of his star in the aftermath of Royal Ascot. “It would seem fairly obvious that if he's sound and well he's going to go to Goodwood.”

In a sense, Goodwood was where it all began for Stradivarius in 2017. He arrived for his first attempt in Group 1 company on the back of victory in the G2 Queen's Vase, and in some respects he was the villain of the piece in the Goodwood Cup when beating another popular member of the staying ranks, Big Orange (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), who at that stage was looking for his third win in the race. Stradivarius effectively then took ownership of the Goodwood Cup, with four straight wins until he was withdrawn on the morning of last year's race following heavy rain.

“Even though it's an incredibly long career, it seems like almost yesterday when he won that first Goodwood Cup but it's five years ago,” Nielsen says. 

“He has so many qualities, but soundness is one of the most amazing qualities he has, in that he's never missed an engagement in his entire career, except when we pulled him out of Goodwood, because they had 60 millilitres of rain last year, the night before. Otherwise, he's never missed, never missed at all. It's hard to say that about any horse.”

He's never missed, which is one of the reasons Stradivarius will be so missed when he eventually retires. There are few top-class Flat horses who remain in training for seven seasons, fewer still entire males. Which brings us to what happens next. 

A sensible observer would agree that Stradivarius has all the attributes required to have a chance to make it as a stallion if, that is, that person prizes soundness, durability, toughness, and a killer turn of foot. And what breeder wouldn't look for those qualities for their future foals? The problem is that a section of breeders have become fixated on trying to satisfy a fickle market rather than breeding what they believe will make a racehorse. It is a situation that means we now often find the winners of the best races in the programme book – you know, those that you'd give your right arm to win: the Derby, the Gold Cup – overlooked when the time comes for a stallion career.

Nielsen, naturally, is convinced of his horse's potential for a second career as a stallion, and it is hard to argue with his reasoning.

“With racehorses, half the battle is training them and getting them to the racetrack,” he says. “[Stradivarius] has soundness and longevity and consistency in spades. If he passes that on, he's a long way to being a good stallion. Apart from his tremendous will to win, another hallmark of his is his turn of foot.

“In his case, in a hell of a lot of races going way back now, it's always been a game of, 'okay, we're going to have to keep him boxed in for as long as possible and not let him out, because once he gets out his acceleration is why he wins'. It's happened in the last three races, which is really where Frankie's got into trouble with him.”

On the theme of this year's Gold Cup, he continues, “What people don't know is what the riding instructions were. With what happened last year, twice where Frankie sat so far back and down on the rail, he was told, 'Whatever you do, don't sit on the rail and get far back on the horse this year.'

“For some reason, he went and did what he did. By the time we had a chance to get out again, it was an impossible task to make up the ground. If you look at how he was travelling when they turned in and how the winner was travelling, the winner was being ridden strongly and so were some others. The Strad was sitting there on the bridle turning in and through no fault of his own he didn't get a run. It was not a case of the others having younger legs than him. It was a case of he got no run and he was put in a position where he had no chance, unfortunately.

“But he and Frankie have had a great partnership, and Frankie has ridden more group wins on him than any other horse he has partnered. Of course I am truly grateful for the partnership they have had and I don't want recent events to overshadow that.”

Nielsen is taking a race-by-race view towards the remainder of Stradivarius's racing career. A shot at a fifth Goodwood Cup on July 26 seems likely to be his next public outing.

“There's just no other way to do it. We'll see how he goes,” he says. “Hopefully he stays sound and he turns up there. I'm sure he will, with John training him, he's going to be 100 per cent when he turns up a Goodwood.”

The decision at this stage that Nielsen can have greater control over is where, eventually, his horse will stand. Offers have already been forthcoming from studs in France and Germany.

“I feel if I ever sold him out of this country, I'd probably get hung,” he says. “He deserves his chance in England and the one thing he's not going to do is cover jumping mares. He's absolutely going to cover Flat mares only. I'm going to give him a chance to prove that he can do it with Flat mares. I really want to keep him in England. With the history and traditions of English breeding I'd like to give him the chance in England, where there's the best racing in the world, and where he's been a bit of an icon really for the last five years.”

Nielsen continues, “There are two particular studs in England who have shown a lot of interest. I'm going to wind up almost certainly owning the horse entirely myself, without anybody taking any equity in him. I'll offer incentives and I've got six, seven, eight mares that I have in mind at this stage that I'd breed to him, that I think would suit him well.”

Though stud plans, or even retirement plans, are still a way down the road, the advertising campaign has already begun, highlighting how Stradivarius's speed compares favourably to other horses in shorter races run on the same course on the same day. For example, when winning the Goodwood Cup in 2020, the stayer's last four furlongs of the two-mile contest were run in 46.50s compared to 46.80s for Space Blues (Ire) over the final four of his seven-furlong spin in the G2 Lennox S. Similarly, in good to soft ground on Champions Day in 2018, Stradivarius recorded 36.82s over the final three furlongs of two miles, while Cracksman (GB) over the same stretch during ten furlongs of the Champion S. stopped the clock at 36.58s (finishing six lengths ahead of Crystal Ocean).

“I know commercially how things have gone, and people have got into thinking that they have to breed a six-furlong mare to a six-furlong stallion to wind up with a racehorse, but it's absolutely wrong,” says Nielsen.

“Obviously it's a combination of the stallion and the mare but some of the greatest horses that have ever been bred have been by so-called stayers. The Tetrarch was the best 2-year-old who ever lived. He was seven from seven as a 2-year-old, over five and six furlongs, and was a great influence on the breed. He was by a Doncaster Cup horse out of a mare that won over 11 furlongs. Ribot was the same. He was the champion 2-year-old in Italy, won the Arc twice, the King George, and was undefeated in 16 races. He was by Tenerani who won the Goodwood Cup when it was over two miles and five furlongs.”

Nielsen also points to the influential Deep Impact (Jpn), whose 12 wins came between ten furlongs and two miles, while ruing the demise of stamina influences in Australia and America.

“We've still got our stamina in Europe. I think it's really important that we hold on to whatever stamina we have, because the rest of the world, unless they just wind up running over six furlongs, they're going to need to breed to our stallions, our mares,” he says.  

“The authorities start to cater for a slightly faster horse and start to bring down the racing distance. If you're breeding for a mile-and-a-half race, people are trying to breed the mile-and-a-quarter horse who just about stays. Then you bring it down to a mile and a quarter, everybody starts to try and breed milers to just about last out the mile and a quarter to have that necessary speed. Once the racing authorities start to bring down racing distances, we're on a slippery path.”

Stradivarius's dam, the Wildenstein-bred Private Life (Fr) (Bering {GB}) was herself a winner at a mile and ten furlongs. His third dam Pawneese (Ire) (Carvin {Fr}) won the Oaks, Prix de Diane and King George. The record of his sire Sea The Stars is familiar to most, but it is worth repeating that he was the pre-eminent colt of his generation, from a mile to a mile and a half. His trainer John Oxx recently told TDN that he has no doubt that Sea The Stars could have won the St Leger. He is also the sire of the top-rated horse currently in training, the outstanding miler Baaeed (GB). It is easy to see whence Stradivarius derives his talent, with forebears of the highest calibre over a range of middle distances. 

“I'm going to send him mile or mile-and-a-quarter mares, and I see no reason why he's not going to come up with the goods,” says his breeder. “If you do that, with the soundness, his will to win and his temperament, he only has to pass on some of those traits and he'll be a good stallion.”

Nielsen also has confidence that he will be backed by his fellow breeders.

“I think he will get a decent book, but of course he's going to have to prove it himself,” he says. “The reason I put some of those ads out is to underline his speed. You can ask him to quicken in his races and then join the leaders and then you can actually stop with them again, which is very rare. Then he'll just sit again and relax, and then you can ask him again when it's time to go. Yes, I'm trying to influence people who think you've got to have speed into seeing that he really does have speed, because he does. He's very fast over two or three furlongs and horses like Earthlight and Space Blues, who were terrifically fast horses, he's run faster closing times than them comfortably.”

Nielsen has consistently set out his stall when it comes to what he wants as a breeder, and that is to breed a Derby winner. Stradivarius was not that, but in a way he became so much more, especially to the many people who have become his fans over the last five or six seasons.

“It is great to hear from people when they come up to me and say, 'Thanks for keeping him in training.' Either people who run race tracks, or even members of the public will say it sometimes when you walk between the pre-parade and the paddock. It catches you by surprise, when you hear it,” says Nielsen.

“Obviously, it's great that the public love the horse and that he's had the career that he's had, and I'd like to keep him in training for another 10 years if I could. I must admit, this season now, I start feeling the heat a little bit, because I feel like he actually hasn't lost his ability. It's been more down to what's happened in his races. He didn't lose a race last year that I felt was really because he wasn't good enough.

“I do feel the pressure a little bit now, especially because if he'd run the other day and he'd been beaten ten lengths, then it would've been easy to say, 'He's older now and he's done enough and he's clearly not the force he was', and I think everybody would understand it very easily. That's the way it is, but if he runs again at Goodwood like he ran the other day, I think the people might be saying, 'Why would you stop with him?'”

Certainly, the knowledge that the number of opportunities left to see Stradivarius at the racecourse are now few will add numbers to the gate at Goodwood, whoever else turns up to oppose him on the day. And for Nielsen, his appeal is as much about his character as his innate ability. 

“Everybody loves watching him walk around the paddock. He's got that great walk, like John Wayne, and they always tell me he screams and shouts down at the stables before he comes up to the parade ring. But when he gets up there, he just puts his head down. He's all business. He knows he can't be messing around now. It's time to concentrate.

“He goes down the start and he looks around him. He doesn't seem to be bothered at all that he's got a race coming up. He just stands there and looks across the Downs at Goodwood as if to say 'I've been here before, I remember'. He's got that air about him.”

Nielsen's Derby dream may remain unrealised but he knows that in Stradivarius he has been given the rarest of gifts. 

“Even if I managed to somehow get lucky enough to breed the Derby winner, which was the goal even with him really, it's impossible that I could have as much fun as he's given me, because it's just been so enduring,” he admits. “Normally, if you had a Derby winner, he might run twice as a 2-year-old and five times as a 3-year-old and then you'd be looking at retirement, unless you kept him in training at four. With him, it's 34 races already. He's just going to be impossible to match.”

The post ‘He’s Absolutely Going To Cover Flat Mares Only’: Bjorn Nielsen on Stradivarius’s Future Stud Career appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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