And it's no wonder: Flay admitted that he targets the sale, and calls the experience “one of my favorite weeks of the year.”

“I love the environment. I love the atmosphere. It's a giant cocktail party, and selling seven-figure horses that are handpicked as the top of the crop. Some of the best eyes in the business have picked those horses out physically and from a pedigree standpoint and said, `These are the top of the crop.' You can't really bring up a horse to Saratoga that doesn't really have some serious shine to it. All the best judges in the business look at every single horse, and a handful of times, so there's nothing slipping through the cracks. If you don't have a horse that people are going to get excited about, it's probably not the right place for it to be.”

But this August will mark a big shift for Flay, whose racing and breeding program was dealt a serious blow in September with the death of his long-term advisor James Delahooke. Delahooke, an industry icon who played a key role in the creation of the Juddmonte bloodlines, was not just an advisor, but a mentor and friend to Flay.

As such, his two on offer this year with consignor Stone Farm represent a little bit of the traditional, and a little something new.

Justify–Blossomed sells as hip 6 | Thorostride photo

Hip 6, a colt by Justify-Blossomed, by Deputy Minister, was selected for him by his new bloodstock advisor Tom McGreevy out of the Keeneland November Sale for $350,000; while hip 217, a half-brother to his Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) by Not This Time, is a homebred out of White Hot, a purchased advised by Delahooke.

Pinhooking has not been a big part of Flay's playbook up until now, and has been an aspect of the game in which he has dabbled “very minimally” with “break-even to moderate success,” he says.
But if Delahooke taught him about pedigrees and families, McGreevy's forte is physicals, and Flay is benefitting from their expertise in each realm.

“James is not replaceable,” said Flay. “He taught me so much about this business. Every time that I spent time with him, I learned something new. James saw the whole picture. When you look at Juddmonte pedigrees and you look at the third and fourth dams of some of these great horses, James picked them out as yearlings. And so having James as one of my mentors in terms of buying fillies and mares is never going to be replaced.

“Last September, I had a conversation with Tom about coming onto my team, and the thing I love about Tom is that he is focused on what he wants to do. He wants to look at every horse at every sale, and he wants to find great physicals. That's what he cares about. He loves the physicality of the horse. He doesn't have to worry about the pedigrees. I'm going to take care of that. He doesn't have to worry about matings or anything like that. He tells me who he thinks are great physicals in the sale, and then I use that information to make decisions. And so far, it's been a great year. Now that I have Tom, I would consider all kinds of things that maybe I didn't consider before, just because he is such a great judge of physical. And so having him on my team gives me a tremendous amount of confidence.”

Hip 6, the Justify colt, is just one example.

“The typical horse that I look for, especially, has that great walk along with a lot of other things the agents look for–the conformation, the balance and everything,” said McGreevy, recalling his purchase of the colt as a weanling in November. “And there are intangibles, too, that we look at is; his attitude, how he handles the pressure of the sale. And he had all those qualities, I thought.”
McGreevy said that to him, the walk trumps everything.

“I still think the toughest thing to find on a horse is a really, really good walk, and he has that,” he said. “And I don't just mean they walk correctly, but they have that great athletic walk. I believe that to be able to do that, they have to have all the parts working together. That translates on the racetrack. That's how they move and how efficient they are.”

If the weanling and his page looked good last November, they look even better now. A half-brother to Grade I Spinaway winner Sippican Harbor (Orb) and the graded stakes placed Bodacious Babe (Mineshaft), the colt has received a timely update on his page with his full-sister, Awesome Result, now two-for-two in Japan since the November catalogue. And there's not a hotter sire than Justify, who has sired graded stakes winners in Europe and Australia in 2023, along with two Grade I winners in America-Arabian Lion and Aspen Grove.

“Justify is doing so well,” said McGreevy. “He's really on fire not only in the United States but in Australia and England, France. So (hip 6) has a lot of encouraging things about him, not only as an individual, but he has a lot of star power going for him and the pedigree on the bottom side, as well.”

Said Flay, “Listen, this is why somebody like Tom McGreevy is so important to a program like this, because he sees things that I'm not going to ever see. It's like cooking. You need to know your limitations. Just because you can cook Italian food doesn't mean you can cook Chinese food. I really rely on him to pick out physicals that are developing. Obviously, these horses are young. You're trying to predict the future. Obviously, no one can do that 100% of the time, but I like his batting average a lot.”

Hip 217, Not This Time–White Hot colt | Thorostride photo

Like with all his mares, Flay planned the mating for hip 217.

“I became interested in Not This Time pretty early in his success,” he said. “You could see that something good was happening early on.” At the time he planned the mating, early in 2021, Pizza Bianca hadn't yet made her first start.

“I took a calculated risk with Not This Time, and then Pizza Bianca became Pizza Bianca, won the Breeders' Cup, and then at the same time, Not This Time has developed into one of the most important young stallions we have.”

Flay has retained both White Hot and Pizza Bianca, and both are at Stone Farm, in foal to Into Mischief.

There's no telling what buyers might find (hip 217) appealing, said Flay. “It's Saratoga. It's a hot, now somewhat-proven stallion, a young, exciting stallion. It's the physical, and it's the pedigree. And it's also now the race record under the first dam. So, up close, but also in terms of history, going back four dams, five dams, six dams, it's tough to beat this pedigree. Even if you didn't have Pizza Bianca in there, it's one of the best pedigrees in the world.”

It's a pedigree that could appeal to a broad cross-section of the yearling-buying market.

“If it were five years ago, I would say to you it's going to be somebody from Japan or it's going to be somebody from Europe. But now that grass racing is so incredibly important in this country and getting more and more important, it could be anybody. Not This Time can certainly get a dirt horse, and just because it's a Galileo mare doesn't mean they can't run on dirt at some point. I would just say don't try to figure out before the horse is running where the horse is going to run. The horse will tell you where it's going to run. But this is one of the world's great pedigrees, and if I'm buying a yearling, this is the pedigree that I'm looking at, for sure.”

This week, Songbird will be elected into the Hall of Fame, and Flay will be on hand to support the man who picked her out as a yearling at this sale nine years ago for owner Rick Porter-his new advisor, McGreevy.

“Songbird was one of my favorite fillies of all time,” said Flay. “Just the fact that I get to work with the guy that picked out the horse and the horse is now being inducted into the Hall of Fame, I feel really lucky. Losing James, as I said, is never going to be something I'm going to be able to replace, from a business standpoint and also as a friend standpoint. The guy was amazing, but I'm lucky that this new chapter is with Tom.”

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“The Hall of Fame is a great initiative that promotes the best in our sport and stimulates further interest in the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket,” Prescott said. “I'm surprised and honoured to be invited to join such a tip-top Hall of Fame judging panel, and to be tasked with making such important decisions.”

Inductions are decided upon by a panel of horseracing experts. This year's class will be announced ahead of the QIPCO Guineas Festival, while the ceremony will take place during that event in May. The National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket will also unveil an updated Hall of Fame exhibition at that time.

Click here for more information.

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This is a racing publication, of course, but before we reflect on the action on the racecourse, it would be remiss not to mention the heartbreaking human loss which was so intrinsically entwined with the sport. 

Grief engulfed two nations. Wednesday brought the indelibly sad image of Henry de Bromhead as one of the pallbearers carrying his son Jack's wicker casket from the Butlerstown's Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by mourners of all ages. In solidarity with their friend who lost his life at the age of 13 in a pony racing accident, many of the youngsters appeared at the service in their riding gear.

Jack's grandfather Andrew Moffat and parents Henry and Heather gave us all a lesson in how to grieve with the utmost dignity while paying a magnificent tribute to the boy whose loss has touched people who never even met him, such was the eloquence of their respective eulogies. And during Irish Champions Weekend, Jack de Bromhead was remembered in the red armbands borne by the jockeys in his memory.

In Britain the armbands were a more sombre black. The death of the Queen is in many ways easier to bear than the loss of a teenager with so much sparkle and promise. A 96-year-old woman dying peacefully in the comfort of the Scottish home she adored is what could be described as a 'good death', but Her Majesty's passing is  of course far more symbolic than that. Its repercussions will be felt way beyond her funeral next Monday when Britain's period of national mourning ends. 

The absence of the sport's most celebrated insider will be felt keenly in racing circles. There are enough members of the royal family with a strong love of horses for us to be able to hope that the Royal Studs will endure, but none of the Queen's descendants appear to share quite the level of absorption and devotion she had for breeding and racing. Change will surely come.

Another two redoubtable members of the racing and breeding community also left us in the last week. On Tuesday evening came the shock news of James Delahooke's sudden death on the Yorkshire moors, while on Saturday the passing was reported of Evie Stockwell, whose contribution to the breeding industry has been enormously significant on both the equine and human front. At the age of 97 she had survived her twin sister Lady Mimi Manton by one month. As Eddie O'Leary observed in Nancy Sexton's tribute to Mrs Stockwell, “The world has lost two Queens this week.”

May it come as some comfort to the de Bromhead, Delahooke, Magnier, and O'Callaghan families that the thoughts of their friends and colleagues in the racing world are with them during this sad time.

The Versatile Dubawi Line

So to the horses. A one-two in the St Leger with Eldar Eldarov (GB) and New London (Ire) gave Dubawi (Ire) his 53rd Group 1 win worldwide, and if you are looking for a pattern for his offspring, the answer is that there isn't one, other than a shared willingness to win. 

From top Hong Kong sprinter Lucky Nine (Ire), who was one of his earliest stars, through champion 2-year-olds, Classic milers, smart middle-distance horses, and a Horse of the Year in Ghaiyyath (Ire), Dubawi pretty much has all the bases covered, including a slew of sons at stud. As well as in Britain's final Classic of the season, the line was also represented at Ireland's Champions Weekend when John Fairley's admirable Highfield Princess (Fr), by Dubawi's Guineas-winning son Night Of Thunder (Ire), sped her way to a third consecutive Group 1 win in three different countries, this time dropping back to the minimum trip to claim the Flying Five. 

Dubawi's latest Classic winner in the delayed St Leger came on the back of his daughter Mimikyu's win in the G2 Park Hill S. on the same afternoon that the White Birch Farm homebred juvenile Kubrick (Ire) won the G3 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp. On European earnings, Dubawi has edged ahead of Frankel (GB) in the leading sires' table and in fact he is way out in front when it comes to black-type winners for the year, his tally of 38 (12% of his runners) putting him ahead of Frankel by 14. The two mighty stallions, who live only about a mile from each other as the crow flies, are level pegging on seven Group 1 winners apiece this year in Europe.

The Lanwades Success Story Continues 

In her role as Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk, Kirsten Rausing was acting as master of ceremonies on Sunday while Newmarket's mayor Philippa Winter read the proclamation of the accession of King Charles III as Britain's new monarch. This meant that Rausing was not on Town Moor to witness a notable first for her as the breeder of a British Classic winner in Eldar Eldarov. 

She was however present for her first British Group 1 winner in her own colours when Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) won the Yorkshire Oaks to bring her Group 1 haul to five. Eldar Eldarov and Alpinista are out of the half-sisters Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from the Lanwades Alruccaba (GB) family which just keeps giving. 

From a different family entirely springs the expat Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), another redoubtable Lanwades-bred who is thriving in Australia and now has 13 victories to his name, including the G2 Tramway S. on September 3. He is bound for the G1 Cox Plate on October 22 via the G1 Underwood later this month.

Firsts and Seconds For Many

Eldar Eldarov's St Leger win was also of significance for more of his connections. Notably, he became the second breeze-up graduate from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm to win a Classic this season following the Irish 2,000 Guineas success of Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), last year's champion 2-year-old. Williamson was also the breeze-up pinhooker behind the 2019 Preakness S. winner War Of Will, who now stands alongside his sire War Front at Claiborne Farm. 

For Roger Varian, it was a second victory in Britain's oldest Classic following Kingston Hill (GB) in 2014, and his faith in his young stable jockey David Egan was repaid handsomely as the 23-year-old notched his first Classic victory in the same season he lost his retainer with Prince AA Faisal, for whom he won the 2021 Saudi Cup as well as two Group 1s aboard Mishriff (Ire).

Eldar Eldarov had been bought at the relocated Arqana Breeze-up Sale for £480,000 by Oliver St Lawrence for Bahrain's KHK Racing, thus also giving that relatively new owner in British racing a significant first Classic success. 

Kyprios Continues to Climb

The opening up of the Irish St Leger to older horses almost 40 years ago means that there have been a number of repeat winners, most notably the Dermot Weld-trained Vinnie Roe (Ire), who owned the race between 2001 and 2005. With Vincent O'Brien, Weld jointly holds the record for the most number of winners of the Irish St Leger, with the last two of his nine being provided by the admirable Moyglare Stud-bred filly Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Now six, she has run in the race in all four of her seasons in training, and added a third place to her fine record this year when finishing almost eight lengths behind her full-brother Kyprios (Ire), who is now the pre-eminent stayer in training following his unbeaten season which includes lifting the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup.

The Weld stable enjoyed a successful Irish Champions Weekend, however, when unleashing the Aga Khan's Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), a half-sister to the brilliant Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), to win the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on just her second racecourse appearance. A day earlier her 3-year-old stablemate Duke De Sessa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) won the G3 Paddy Power S., leading home a one-two for Maurice Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, which also owned and bred runner-up Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}).

Kyprios, who runs in the Moyglare colours but is co-owned by the Coolmore partners, sealed a fruitful weekend for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore as Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) confirmed his juvenile promise by winning the G1 Irish Champion S. on only his second start since resuming from an injury earlier in the season.

Auguste Rodin (Ire), bred on theDeep Impact (Jpn)/Galileo (Ire) cross that has already yielded Classic winners Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Snowfall (Jpn) for O'Brien, continued the tremendous run of the Ballydoyle juveniles this year with his success in the G2 Champion Juvenile S. in his first run in Pattern class. He could now be headed to England next month for either the Dewhurst or Vertem Futurity. It requires no leap of imagination to see Auguste Rodin make up into a serious Classic contender for next season as the colt is the first foal of the treble Group 1 winner Rhododendron (Ire), a sister to Magical (Ire) and daughter of the equally brilliant Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

Hint of Things to Come

Al Riffa (Fr) took quite a step up from maiden company to winning the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. on Sunday for Joseph O'Brien, and the result will certainly have been welcomed by the Coolmore camp. Though the colt from the penultimate French crop of Wootton Bassett (GB) is not owned by the Coolmore team but by Jassim Bin Ali Al Attiyah, he, like Auguste Rodin, is out of a Galileo mare and represents a cross that we are likely to see more frequently in runners following the stallion's move to Coolmore Stud two seasons ago.

The Galileo mares in Wootton Bassett's first Irish crop include Snowfall's dam Best In The World (Ire), Arc winner Found (Ire), and G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Clemmie (Ire), who is also a sister to Churchill (Ire), while those currently in foal to him include Group 1 winners Minding (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Happily (Ire).

Al Riffa, who was bred by a partnership led by Haras d'Etreham, is Wootton Bassett's sixth Group 1 winner, that group being split evenly between colts and fillies. His pedigree certainly gives plenty of hope for him to thrive with age and a bit of a step up in distance. His unraced dam Love On My Mind is a sister to the dual Sagaro S. winner and Gold Cup runner-up Mizzou (Ire), while their dam Moments Of Joy (GB) was a Listed winner over 1m6f and is herself a daughter of the G1 Prix Vermeille and G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}).

Al Riffa was sold as a foal at Arqana to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €31,000 the same day that his dam went through the ring for just €11,000, bought by Arqana representative Zied Romdhane. The 10-year-old mare now has a yearling filly by Land Force (Ire) and was subsequently covered by St Leger winner Galileo Chrome (Ire).

Kingsclere in the Spotlight

Andrew Balding's association with Juddmonte has started in some style thanks to the smart juvenile Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who added the G2 Champagne S. to his victory in York's G3 Acomb S. 

A successful Doncaster St Leger meeting for the Kingsclere team also included group wins for two stalwart owners of Park House Stables. First, Bounce The Blues (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) won the G3 JRA Sceptre Fillies' S for the irrepressible Barbara Keller, one of the most enthusiastic owners in the business who also raced the Grade 1 winner Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}). Similar comments apply to Mick and Janice Mariscotti, who certainly know how to celebrate a big winner and struck on Sunday with the G2 Doncaster Cup winner Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). With victories in the Ascot S. at Royal Ascot and in the Listed Esher Cup, the progressive stayer, who missed almost the whole of his 4-year-old season has certainly given the Mariscottis plenty of cause for cheer this year. Patience rewarded. 

The spotlight will soon be thrown on the Balding stable which features in a new series to be released later this month on Amazon Prime. 'Horsepower' runs in four parts from September 23 and, according to the press release announcing its launch, it “captures a momentous period in the lives and careers of its two main protagonists, racehorse trainer Andrew Balding and jockey Oisin Murphy”. 

The documentary series was being filmed when Murphy was banned for 14 months for Covid regulation and alcohol breaches. The trailer for Horsepower can be viewed below.

Stallions on a Roll

Shadwell's Muhaarar (GB) was represented by Group/Grade 2 winners on each side of the Atlantic last week. On Thursday, Polly Pott (GB) made sure Harry Dunlop's training career will go out with a bang by landing her fourth consecutive win on her first outing in stakes company when winning the G2 May Hill S. at Doncaster. 

Over at Kentucky Downs, Bran (Fr) won the GII Fanduel Turf Sprint S. Not only was the John Sadler trainee bred in France by Lordship Stud but she was ridden to victory by French Classic-winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud, who is now based in America. 

Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega was another stallion to exhibit his versatility on Sunday when represented at Longchamp by G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sweet Lady (Fr) over 1m4f and also by the 5f winner Berneuil (Ire), who landed the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert. Both horses are out of mares by Dansili (GB), which is a cross that has also worked well to produce Grade I winner Capla Temptress (Ire), Group 2 winner Cadillac (Ire), and the dual Group 1 runner-up and Group 3 winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire).

Lope De Vega has been on a roll of late, with his daughter Dreamloper (Ire) winning the previous weekend's G1 Prix du Moulin to add to her G1 Prix d'Ispahan success, and the aforementioned Duke De Sessa winning a Group 3 on Saturday at Leopardstown. 

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Whereas we knew that her great age was finally catching up with the monarch, James Delahooke's abrupt departure for a grouse moor in the sky has come as a ghastly shock. Returning to Lexington for the September Sale suddenly feels a dismally different prospect. Who, now, will tell us like it really is? Who else will entertain and educate us with that unerring, twin-edged blade of knowledge and mischief–both honed by a deep seasoning in the ups and downs of life, in general, and life with horses in particular.

His career as a bloodstock agent made James as familiar as any with those twin impostors, triumph and disaster. And the man who had come out the other side was not just a brilliant judge of horseflesh, but a no less acute observer of human nature.

James knew his mind, and how to speak his mind. And while he could be hilariously acerbic, in the end his sagacity was based–as it always must be–in a humility and compassion that he found wanting, on typically candid reflection, in his younger self.

(To listen to this story as a podcast, click the arrow below.)

He deplored the phonies and smooth talkers, many of whom thrived in the years of his unjust neglect. Being himself unfettered by any posture or pretense, however, he became a fount of insight and enthusiasm to refresh any who deserved to share them, whatever their age or station in life.

He was a fine raconteur albeit, as a compatriot who has accompanied him through airports, I'm not sure immigration officers were always so appreciative of this talent. But in a walk of life where too many say only what they imagine a rich person might want to hear, it became an instructive badge of merit to see those who did remain loyally in his camp; or, better yet, those who joined it when he was out of fashion.

Certainly it's unsurprising that James should have forged such a lasting bond with Arthur Hancock, another who knew both the solitariness and satisfactions of genius that has been separated, not without pain, from the heart of the Establishment.

James's judgement, ever priceless if sometimes inadequately prized, was reliably independent of the market herd. And he could, indeed, be memorably withering about the craven, venal or simply fatuous ways in which he saw others wasting their patrons' money.

In someday trying to replace the irreplaceable, we can trust those who have lost not just a friend but an inspired professional advisor to rely on the same instincts that served them so well, in first seeking James's services. You can almost hear his caustic bark of laughter at those “tyre-kickers”, as he called them, who may now amplify their unworthiness by crassly volunteering to fill his shoes. I remember him once discussing a couple of agents then enjoying conspicuous patronage. One, he declared, was a very nice person but “buying meatballs–and terribly expensive meatballs”; while the other, almost universally disparaged as an opportunist and adventurer, actually had an extremely good eye.

Both pronouncements were typical of James. The pity was that neither of these people could be truly described as rivals or peers. They were not strictly his rivals, because Bobby Flay was just about the only person smart enough to be giving James adequate resources to compete for the same stock. And they weren't peers because–well, because that was a distinction available to very few of his generation.

Danehill | Arrowfield

What an honor it was, to sit in his study and be shown his catalogue notes on Hip 154 at Saratoga in 1982. A single caveat: “Toes out slightly”. And two numbers scrawled: 1.6 and 350. The first was what he told Prince Khalid Abdullah he should expect to pay, because someone would surely have a million and a half for a daughter of His Majesty out of a Buckpasser half-sister to Northern Dancer. And the second was for the $350,000 actually required to buy the filly who became the dam of Danehill.

James had met the Prince three or four years previously, after dining with Guy Harwood in Deauville. When they asked for the bill, the waiter said it had been taken care of–indicating an elegant Arabian gentleman across the restaurant. This turned out to be the man who had relegated them to underbidders for a yearling earlier that day. Invited soon afterwards to sow the seeds of what has become one of the great programs in Turf history, within five years James had bought both the sire and dam of two Epsom Derby winners. He leaves an indelible legacy in the Juddmonte empire; in the breed itself; and, above all, in the knowledge and memories of so many friends.

James would not want misplaced sentiment in our bereavement, any more than a true horsewoman like Queen Elizabeth II would desire the final Classic of the British season to be postponed (as “a mark of respect”) when the trainers involved have fine-tuned their charges to the minute. Those of us who lament James's absence in Lexington this week know perfectly well that he would far rather we just raised a glass to his memory–and then, very shortly afterwards, another glass–before sharing a few of the stories that will long preserve the vivacity and sheer authenticity of his character.

Meanwhile I'm pretty sure he would hope that Arklow can grab the weekend headlines, as an 8-year-old son of Arch running 12 furlongs on grass. That way, perhaps, it won't just be his own example that encourages us to keep seeking the right stuff in the Thoroughbred.

I am grateful to know a few others of comparable stamp, from whom an approving email or text steels your resolve against any orthodoxy; while even a mild hint of dissent, equally, prompts you urgently to revisit the premises of your argument. But there's no denying that neither our business nor our community can easily absorb the sudden loss of a man like James.

Okay, perhaps so unconstrained a personality might not have made a monarch quite as successful as the one whose reign spanned almost his whole life. But I will certainly not be alone in missing the wit and wisdom guaranteed, from Yorkshire to Lexington, whenever King James was holding court.

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For me, James's death marks the passing of my most influential bloodstock mentor. From the time I first started at his Adstock Manor Stud in 1990, James became a father-figure-like fountain of equine knowledge to me. When I moved into a cottage at Adstock, another occupant working the yearling sales prep (David Redvers) commented that it was a pity for me to come to such a place as Adstock only to work with hunters and point-to-pointers. At the time, I didn't quite understand what he meant. However, luck turned out to be on my side because as soon as the December sales were over, James was around every day, either riding out, or on the ground directing gallops, and for two winters I found myself with unparalleled access to arguably the finest judge of a horse in modern racing. He and his right-hand man, George Cook, really gave me the foundation I needed to understand and assess horses. I remember one of my first questions for him was to ask why he'd bought a horse out of Keeneland September specifically to become a hunter-chaser. His reply was simply: “look at him. Really look at him. Take him in.” The horse turned out to be a talented performer over fences. Naturally.

James also gave me the privilege of so many good days fox hunting with the Bicester and Waddon Chase and seemed to particularly enjoy it when I teamed up with the tearaway hunter-chaser King Neon, co-owned and bred by him and George. A tricky horse to control, at times I ended up riding very close to the Field Masters. One, Ian McKie, was understanding and even encouraging, being an amateur jockey himself. However another Field Master, who was never the bravest across country, once gave me a terrible dressing-down for coming within a length of him over an open ditch. James thought it highly amusing and told me “Don't worry about it. Serves him right. Next time tell him he shouldn't dither about in front of fences!” Well, quite. Though, at just 18, I didn't have the guts to talk back to the man!

James was that thing which is so rare in racing these days. A grass-roots stockman and horseman. Someone who understood that the land and the horses are inseparable. As time moved on and racing morphed into The Thoroughbred Industry, we shared our disdain for the new wave of slick bullshitters in the game who amazingly manage to grab the ears of new owners and manipulate them for short-term gain. During an e-mail exchange a few years ago, we agreed that Slick Drivel would be a great, and apt, name for a racehorse!

I loved and shared his wicked sense of humour, and Sunday lunches in the kitchen at Adstock were always entertaining and the highlight of my working week.

Much to my amazement, he never forgot me and years after my time at Adstock, he sought me out to run an expanding private farm in Ireland. That venture might have been short-lived for both of us but was a valuable experience for me. When I then turned down a job he found for me in England in order to go out to Turkey, he thought I was barking mad, but when I explained to him that I needed to get away from the money-grabbing commercial juggernaut that racing and breeding had become and go out to help upgrade standards in a country where it was still a sport where owner-breeders dominated and took pleasure in seeing their horses run without worrying about sales value, he understood perfectly. From time to time, he lamented the way things had changed and how unfortunately, we can't put the genie back in the bottle. He was right about that one too, even if we should try to put it back in.

In latter years we often met at mare sales and usually had an amusing dinner together. One particular evening at Cardigan Street we launched into a vibrant, irreverent discussion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We got right into it, much to the consternation of two other guests, who were unsure whether we were being serious or satirical. The reality was we veered between the two constantly. It was such a fun night, topped off with a good dollop of mockery of a certain pompous racing figure, which always made James giggle!

The last time we spoke was back in February when his friend George Cook died. Makes it all the more shocking that James is now gone so soon afterwards, although I am glad that at least he went whilst out on a grouse moor, doing something he loved.

I will miss him. So will many others.

Eric Ward grew up in Ireland and spent nearly 30 years in stud farming all over the world including a decade with Coolmore. He managed studs in Ireland, China and Turkey. Now based in Gaillac, France he assists his winemaker wife, writes novels and is also a volunteer fire-fighter/first responder.

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I was walking through the car park after racing at Royal Ascot almost 40 years ago. There was post-race merriment everywhere, but one group caught my eye. They were bouncing a sock-like ball and using a champagne bottle for a bat, cricket-style. I said, “If you pitch it, American-style, I will drill it over a few rows of cars.” They granted my wish, and I delivered, channeling my best Mike Schmidt and startling a picnic a few rows away. The cricketers were James and Guy Harwood–a few years my seniors–and although we had never met, this random moment proved most serendipitous.

I was invited to stay with them at their house in Newmarket. I felt like I had been invited into the locker room at the Super Bowl. They were at the top of the game, winning Group 1s and buying bloodstock that will remain significant forever. I was mostly an energetic novice, who offered no professional aid. But they were generous with their knowledge, their friends, and their fun.

James was never shy about sharing his opinions (of which there were many) and his passions. His horsemanship is legendary, but he was also effusive in his love of family, the outdoors (especially fishing), food and wine, the arts, history, and the world at large. James and Angie's Cardigan Street, Newmarket table was always the place for interesting company and great food. It has remained my Tattersalls can't-miss spot for decades. When going to England, I could always count on a tip from James about an art exhibit, museum show, new play, or restaurant to add a special event to my trip.

As for the outdoors, many of you know that I didn't share his love of fishing and shooting. He had a yearly timeshare on the Spey and invited me regularly to join him. My response was always to take someone who would appreciate the experience. One year, he declared it was his 60th birthday celebration there, and of course I said I would be there. I arrived into the “fishing cottage” to find a fine manor home with 10 bedrooms and staff. Yes, I tried the fishing but did not get converted. I did enjoy the local golf club a few times with his brother Matt. Of course, the food, drink, and company, including friends from his childhood, were all exceptional.

I will miss him this weekend at Keeneland and on our planned visit to Stone Farm to see our stock. I will miss him next month in Newmarket but will dine with Angie and share some laughs and tears. It will be hard to look at the pedigrees and the horses he helped Bobby and I shape over the last 15 years. But I am glad to have those horses and their pedigrees to remind me for years to come of this very special man and his contributions to my life. I'm really glad I delivered on my promise to park that sock ball in the upper deck.

Love you, James.

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A large proportion of the greatest horses bred and raced by Juddmonte from the late 1980s onwards have descended from fillies or mares bought by Delahooke on the Prince's behalf. The Juddmonte families which have yielded the likes of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Zafonic (Gone West), Workforce (GB) (King's Best), Warning (GB) (Known Fact) and the legendary broodmare Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) all trace to the foundation mares selected by Delahooke; while his yearling purchases for the Prince included Rainbow Quest (Blushing Groom {Fr}) and Dancing Brave (Lyphard), winners of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1985 and '86 respectively.

Another yearling purchase who played a massive role in the Juddmonte success story was Razyana (His Majesty), from whom the Prince bred Danehill (Danzig); while the Prince's first two home-bred Derby winners, Quest For Fame (GB) (Rainbow Quest) and Commander In Chief (GB) (Dancing Brave), were notable for having both of their parents bought by Delahooke.

Delahooke was not on the Juddmonte team from the very beginning in 1978 but he was recruited shortly afterwards by the Prince's original manager Humphrey Cottrill and soon was both buying the yearlings and breeding prospects and managing the original Juddmonte Farm at Wargave.  In these roles he did more than anyone to plant the proverbial acorns from which the mighty Juddmonte oaks have grown. He was obviously working on a large budget, but his genius is even better illustrated by the much less expensive horses whom he bought on behalf of patrons of the Coombelands stable of his friend Guy Harwood (trainer also, of course, of numerous Juddmonte champions including Dancing Brave). Heading the list were the 1979 G1 Derby place-getter Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire) (Pitcairn {Ire}) and the 1981 G1 2,000 Guineas winner To-Agori-Mou (Ire) (Tudor Music {GB}) as well as the 1982 G1 Eclipse S. and G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. winner Kalaglow (Ire) (Kalamoun {Ire}), the 1980 G1 Grand Criterium winner Recitation (Elocutionist), the 1984 G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Lear Fan (Roberto) and the 1979 G1 2,000 Guineas place-getter Young Generation (Ire) (Balidar {GB}). These he picked up for 4,500 guineas, 20,000 guineas, 11,500 guineas, $35,000, 64,000 guineas and 9,000 guineas respectively.

While Juddmonte ranks as the most obvious beneficiary of Delahooke's wisdom and judgement, several other great breeders were also recipients of his invaluable assistance.

In particular, the late Gerald Leigh was on record as saying, “James Delahooke has a flair and knowledge. He is an outstanding judge of a horse. He helped lay the foundations of my stud in the early years as a breeder.”

Delahooke also played a big part in the success enjoyed by the late William Barnett, standing High Line (GB) (High Hat {GB}) for him at his Adstock Manor Stud, the stallion covering merely 14 mares in his first year before going on to become one of the most successful sires in Europe, most notably siring four winners in one afternoon at York's Ebor Meeting in 1981, a four-timer which included two Group 1 winners headed by the Barnett home-bred Master Willie (GB), successful that afternoon in the G1 Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (now Juddmonte International S). Adstock Manor was Delahooke's home for 25 years prior to his relocation to Yorkshire in 1992, and while there he owned and trained the 1987 Aintree Foxhunters winner Border Burg (GB) (Perhapsburg {GB}).

James Delahooke played a less conspicuous role in the bloodstock world in recent years but still continued to advise a select band of clients including Bobby Flay, who has paid him a fulsome tribute.

“James's influence on the breed has made an indelible and permanent mark on some of the most important pedigrees in the Western Hemisphere. For the last 15 years I've had the good fortune of employing his knowledge and keen eye to identify my most important bloodstock. I will miss his insight, love of good food and wine and his opinionated teachings. Although James has left us suddenly, his influence will be felt for decades at the highest end of the stud book. I, for one, will do my best to honour his ongoing impact.”

A countryman born and bred who rode over 50 winners in point-to-points or under National Hunt rules in his youth, James Delahooke passed away on the Yorkshire moors on Wednesday and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of a legend of the bloodstock world who was once described by the late Lord Oaksey as “arguably the best judge of yearlings in the world”.

Said his brother, Matthew, “I was fortunate enough to work for him for a few years. He was a mentor for me, a great brother. We had some good times at the sales. He was very well respected and loved and was a good man.”

He is survived by his wife, Angie; his brothers, Matthew and Tom; four children, Amber, Rorie, Holly, and Eve, and nine grandchildren.

Arrangements have not yet been made, but they will be shared as soon as they are available.

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It's an instructive remark. For one thing, it indicates the humor and modesty that redeem the restauranteur and television chef from the kind of airs that might burden others, accustomed to turning heads in Main Street, on entering this arcane hinterland of ours. Flay so reliably checks the fame and glamor at the barn door, indeed, that you suspect he actually relishes the way Thoroughbreds operate as such undiscriminating vehicles of humility.

But the most important thing about this wry observation is that it's perfectly true. And what has truly assimilated Flay, in the esteem of lifelong horsemen, is a program that brilliantly reconciles its boutique scale with competition at a level where others, as he vividly implies, are wholly immune to the bottom line.

That has required Flay to discover strengths very different from those that made his name. But that process has also allowed horsemen to embrace him, not as some interloper from a mystifying, glitzy world, but as one of their own.

“The difference for me, in the horse business, is that in the rest of my life I'm impulsive, don't like waiting around very long,” he concedes. “But somehow the horses have taught me patience.”

Sure, there are aspects of his professional career that dovetail with the things that draw us all to the racetrack, to horses, jockeys and trainers: the competitive flair that turns rehearsal into performance, routine into theater. By instead concentrating his investment in breeding, however, Flay has deliberately opted for the long game.

While his program never comprises more than a dozen mares, each a highwire dash ahead of sheikhs and plutocrats, time and again he has been able to keep things sustainable at the yearling sales. Only last month, indeed, a $2-million daughter of Curlin sold as the top filly at Saratoga; and five others of his current crop have made Book I of the imminent September Sale.

So while the adrenaline will doubtless flow at Keeneland, overall his horses offer a completely different satisfaction. It's like the slow, low oven that achieves tenderness and succulence, as opposed to the instant flash-and-sizzle sought by those hunting a Kentucky Derby colt.

“Those guys are playing the lottery,” he says. “I'm trying to keep my intrinsic value from day one. Now, I do know that if I pay $1 million for a well-pedigreed filly, and she doesn't run, her value–depending on her pedigree and physique–might be somewhere between a third to a half. But it's not zero, which you'd get with a colt with the exact same pedigree if he can't run.”

Having embarked on a road tapering to a far horizon, Flay has learned to moderate his stride. “Because in the horse business you have no choice,” he says. “This has been a 15-year plan. I bought my first good piece of bloodstock in 2007: a stakes-placed 2-year-old, hailing from the Best in Show line. She RNA'd for $1.4 million, and I ended up buying her for $1.2 million–easily the most money I'd ever spent, on anything. And I remember the consignor saying, 'Just think of this like you're buying a building.' And he was right. It's a long process. But what I always say is that good blood is going to show up. You don't know exactly when. But if you're patient, at some point it's going to show.”

Sure enough, this first big investment produced a filly named America from the final crop of A.P. Indy. Herself a graded stakes winner (and twice Grade I-placed), America in turn produced a first foal by Curlin that made $1.5 million as a yearling. And his endeavors, as First Captain, contributed to the even bigger sum banked by his younger sister at Saratoga the other day.

It was a similar, slow-burn story with a Galileo (Ire) filly acquired for 1,250,000gns at Tattersalls in 2014. Her dam had already produced Derby winner Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), and Flay named her White Hot (Ire).

“I don't know what it would be on today's exchange rate, but at the time she cost the equivalent of $2.1 million,” Flay recalls. “She was the most expensive yearling filly of the hemisphere [from that crop]. But she didn't have the heart to run. I remember John Gosden calling and saying, 'Look, I can run this filly, but I just want you to understand that she's never going to show on the racetrack what's on her page. If she were mine, I would just move on and think about breeding her.' So I did.”

He sent White Hot to Fastnet Rock (Aus) and retained the resulting filly, Pizza Bianca, to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year.

Flay homebred Pizza Bianca won the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

“That's a story where people could say, 'You got lucky,'” Flay says. “And yes, absolutely, I guess there was some luck involved. But at the same time, it was a plan. There were a lot of lean years, holding onto this very expensive piece of bloodstock. But she's beautiful, she's by Galileo, she has that incredible female family. And I just relied on that belief, that at some point the blood's going to come through.”

White Hot's colt by Uncle Mo goes under the hammer at Keeneland as Hip 115. That's a mating characteristic of this program, and too few others. Flay has done his homework and knows how priceless to the breed, historically, has been cross-pollination between the European and American gene pools. After years of short-sighted retrenchment, on both sides of the water, it's heartening to find such a smart investor mingling lines that most commercial breeders would keep dogmatically apart, as exclusively dirt or turf.

Two of his Book I fillies, for instance, share Butterfly Cove (Storm Cat) as third dam. She was not only a half-sister to Aidan O'Brien's champion juvenile Fasliyev (Nureyev), but also delivered a Coolmore linchpin in Grade I winner and producer Misty For Me (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Flay bought Misty For Me's daughter Cover Song (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) for $1.6 million as an auction wild card after she had won the GIII Autumn Miss S. for Spendthrift. He remembers seeing B. Wayne Hughes on his way out of the pavilion and asking: “Why did you sell this filly?” Hughes gave a long pause, looked at Flay and shrugged, saying: “I have no idea.” Now Cover Song's third foal, by Quality Road, heads to Keeneland (Hip 191) with her first, Contemporary Art (Dubawi {Ire}), meanwhile targeting the same Santa Anita graded stakes once won by their dam.

Another long play has been Amagansett, an $875,000 yearling by Tapit out of Misty For Me's stakes-winning sister Twirl (Ire). She never made the track, but again Flay is banking on residual value telling in her first foal, a filly by Uncle Mo (Hip 131).

“This mare was another example of what I was talking about,” Flay remarks. “I paid a lot of money for her as a yearling, but she had an ankle problem and obviously as things stand she's an expensive project. But she's got a lot of quality and class, and we'll see what happens: this is her first foal to the ring and she's very, very nice.”

So while the other Book I pair are both bred on the same commercially live cross as Tiz the Law, as respectively a colt (Hip 320) and filly (Hip 88) by Constitution out of a Tiznow mare, the fact is that Flay is presenting three beautiful yearlings in the sale's premier book on a bolder formula: each by an elite Kentucky stallion, out of a mare from an aristocratic European family.

“I'm not going to say I'm the only one doing it, because I'm definitely not,” Flay says. “But it does seem to be rare to bring over European blood and tie it to American sires, or vice versa. Yet this kind of thing was done for decades by some of the world's best breeders, people like Coolmore and Juddmonte, or Bull Hancock before them. We get so conditioned to say that this horse, with this pedigree, will only run on grass; and that horse, only on dirt. Yet we've been proved wrong so often, I just want to keep an open mind.

“I do wonder how people feel, when they see pedigrees like these. Are they turned off? Are they excited? Probably it'll be a bit of both. But the bottom line is that I know that it works.”

Flay acknowledges the argument that equivalent regeneration is no less urgent in Europe. When Australian friends congratulated him on an inspired mating between White Hot and Fastnet Rock, he demurred: Europe's top stallions were so genetically clustered, in the same neighborhood as the mare, he had felt as though he hadn't a great deal of choice. But he's palpably animated by the idea of reviving the speed-carrying impact of Northern Dancer and his sons on European turf. Someone, I suggest, needs to try once again to win an Epsom Classic with a horse by a perceived dirt stallion. “I'd like to be that person!” he exclaims.

Flay's long-term strategy is seeing dividends | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

That's an ambition a world apart from the New York kid who cut high school to bet at the track, or indeed the guy who made his first piecemeal investments in horseflesh like “throwing darts at a board”. And Flay gives huge credit, for that transformation, to the seasoned counsellors who have helped him navigate his Turf adventure.

The first to illuminate the mysteries of pedigree was his old friend Barry Weisbord, founder of TDN, who channelled Flay's raw enthusiasm into a proper strategy. Then there was James Delahooke, proven as one of the great judges after helping to assemble Juddmonte's foundation mares. It had been too long since the English agent had been deployed by someone equipped to make the most of his exceptional eye, and Flay's subsequent record only confirms what others had meanwhile been missing.

“I've loved working with James for the last 15 years,” Flay says. “You know, he's 'out of the movie' as The Bloodstock Agent because he looks the part, he sounds the part, and he knows the part. I've learned so much just talking to him, every single sale we go to, every dinner that we have together. And James has a very simple project, which is: 'Find me the best-looking physicals among all the fillies in the sale. Don't worry about the pedigrees, we can put those together later. Find me a beautiful horse that's going to make a broodmare one day.'”

But there has also been a third vital dimension: entrusting the care of his mares and foals to a horseman of genius in Arthur Hancock.

“One of the best things I have ever done is employ Stone Farm,” Flay says. “They're a lovely family, first and foremost, and it has been such a pleasure getting to know them. But I remember when James told me to go take a look at their land. That's not something you hear a lot of people say in the commercial horse world, but he believes in a correlation between success and the amount of land each horse is given. So I took a drive out to Paris, Ky., got to the top of this hill and saw their property. And I was like, 'I'm home. This is where I want my horses to live.' So that's the whole formula, right there. It's not overcomplicated. One person that takes care of the physicals, another that takes care of the pedigrees. And of course they live in Shangri-La.”

But Flay does all the matings himself, seeking the same kind of elusive balance as any other breeder–and inviting, in the process, an obvious analogy: don't throw too much chili into the pan, but don't let things get too bland, either. In keeping with his far-sighted dissent on surfaces, he also resists the standard commercial refuge in unproven sires. Apart from anything else, of course, matings have to be commensurate with the value of the mare, which in this program tends to be high.

“I've seen plenty of mares with world-class pedigrees get ruined by sire decisions that are just guesses,” Flay observes. “So I don't use unproven sires. I would rather pay more for the sire later.”

As we've already seen, he's confident that Constitution has made the grade, and expects better again as his upgraded books kick in. (One of his Constitution yearlings in this sale is out of a mare purchased, uncharacteristically, at 13 and already responsible for Grade I winner Come Dancing {Malibu Moon}–and that was precisely because she was carrying this foal by the breakout WinStar sire.) And Flay also loves the injection of speed that qualifies Not This Time to fill an impending void, with Classic sires like Curlin, Tapit and Medaglia d'Oro entering the evening of their careers. (Sure enough, White Hot has a weanling colt by Not This Time.)

All the while, however, his aspirations must be tempered by the reality with which we started: that some of these other guys have reserves as deep as their oil wells.

“Their ammunition and mine is very different,” Flay reflects. “I have to save my powder. I have to be very strategic. There are many sales, including premium sales, where I can't identify a single thing I want to buy–because the pedigree just isn't good enough. That doesn't mean a filly won't come out of that sale and win the Kentucky Oaks. But if a horse can't run, gets hurt, whatever, I need something to lean on.”

By the same token, he would rather double down on a pedigree than undersell.

“That's maybe my more impulsive side,” he says. “But like last year, literally a week before the Keeneland sale, Cover Song's Quality Road colt got an abscess in his foot. I said, 'Okay, we'll race him.' If I have seven foals this year, I know there's a good chance seven aren't going to make the auction ring. That's okay with me. And if nobody wants to pay me what I think a horse is worth, I'm okay taking it back home. Because not only do I know the horse is going to be taken care of, which is incredibly important to me, but it will also be given every opportunity to succeed. So we're all working toward bettering these pages, and strengthening my roster.”

Flay greets Pizza Bianca and rider Jose Ortiz on the way back to the winner's circle | Horsephotos

Having built something so impressive through the first 15 years, Flay can now start to consolidate for the next 15. Among his small band of mares, he has “pillars” that look eligible to start a dynasty: the likes of America, Cover Song, White Hot and Dame Dorothy (Bernardini), a $390,000 yearling who won a Grade I and whose first foal by Curlin, Spice Is Nice, brought seven figures when taking her own turn at the September Sale, before becoming a graded stakes winner last year.

“I mean, these are mares that are already producing beautiful progeny,” Flay reasons. “They're selling at the sales, they're running on the racetrack. So I would love just to continue growing these families. My daughter is 26, she's interested, and I say to her: 'I don't want you to make this your life, but I do need you to keep up with what's going on–because at some point you're going to have to know what to do with a lot of valuable bloodstock.' I want to grow my horses' family trees so that my own family tree can enjoy it, too, decades later.”

Rather closer to hand, meanwhile, is a momentous staging post in the annual cycle.

“We wouldn't have put any of these in Book I unless we thought them really 'primo',” Flay emphasizes. “We feel like we've had some really good luck, from a physical standpoint. I love Saratoga so we took America's filly up there and she was an absolute queen. But just from an international standpoint, we like going to Keeneland with pedigrees like these.”

And he could offer no higher praise than this: if he didn't own the fillies already, they would be the ones he'd be looking at. When Delahooke gives him a shortlist, he always asks: “Is there anything better than what I have in the sale?” Because if the answer is no, it can be hard to let them go.

“But that's the whole thing,” Flay reasons. “I've been able to put together this very small, boutique broodmare band, and it's all very good stuff, the top of the pedigree chain. And when I put something in the ring, there are people out there with the same feeling that I have. People that when they turn the page and see these pedigrees, and then see what these horses look like, will raise their hand with fervor. Because they know how hard it is, to get into these families, and here they have an opportunity to get it ready-made.”

It's a long time now since Flay was fired up with a new passion, watching old races and poring over pedigrees deep into the night.

“And I still have a lot to learn,” he stresses. “It's like the wine business: you can know a lot but you can never know it all. I know it's not a perfect science. Sometimes these families get hot, sometimes they lose a little steam. But that's what's so wonderful, everything continues to evolve. If you want to play at the highest level, you really have to pay close attention. But I absolutely love it. It's become a very important part of my life, and I love it dearly.”

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The former Coolmore-owned Singing Sweetly was purchased by James Delahooke, on behalf of Bobby Flay, at last year's Arqana Breeding Stock Sale from Haras des Capucines for €125,000.

“She's an excellent first foal–well balanced, correct and plenty of bone. A lot of quality to both the mare and the foal,” said Stone Farm's Lynn Hancock. “I don't think there will be too many Study Of Man foals born in the U.S. this year. But he was a very talented racehorse, by Deep Impact, and this filly is an excellent model. It's pretty cool to have some Sunday Silence blood back on the farm as well.”

Flay confirmed that the mare will be bred to Violence (Medaglia d'Oro) this season. “Violence is one of the young stallions I'm very bullish on. He's had a few crops and is proving to be successful long, short, dirt and grass,” said Flay. “He fits this mare since her pedigree is both European and American. Violence gives her a great shot at producing a fast horse.”

Violence, sire of Volatile, No Parole and Dr. Schivel, will stand at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa this season for $25,000.

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