Alcohol Free Heads Banner Year For Gaffneys

It would be perfectly natural to feel some regret for having sold a mare in the same year that she foaled a subsequent treble Group 1 winner. But you will hear nothing of the sort from Michael Gaffney of Churchtown House Stud, breeder of Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never).

“We are absolutely thrilled with what she has done. We are very proud of her and very pleased for her owner Jeff Smith,” says Gaffney. “It's a huge thing for us to have bred a filly like her–we are not a big farm.”

With her defeat of 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace S. winner Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) in last week's G1 Qatar Sussex S., the star of Andrew Balding's high-flying stable augmented a CV which already had an extremely classy look to it following her win in last year's G1 Cheveley Park S. and conquering of Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot. Alcohol Free is a rare non-homebred to race in the famous colours of Littleton Stud, which is owned by one of the stalwarts of British Thoroughbred breeding in Jeff Smith, whose previous win in Goodwood's prestigious mile contest had come with Chief Singer (GB) (Ballad Rock {GB}) back in 1984.

The Co Cork farm where she was born and raised is run by Gaffney with his wife Anne on a principally commercial footing. It is home to around 12 mares, with nine foals on the ground this year.

“In everything we have ever sold–foals, yearlings or mares–we have always wished the very best for the next person, because over the years every time we have sold a good horse to someone they have always come back and looked at our horses,” says Gaffney. “For us it's about building up a rapport with people and hoping for repeat business. And when it's a family that you know and can talk about that has always worked very well for us.”

Alcohol Free's family is just that and has come full circle. For though her dam Plying (Hard Spun) was bred by Rabbah Bloodstock and raced in Sheikh Mohammed's colours, her grandam, the listed-placed winner Nasaieb (Ire) (Fairy King), had in turn been bred by Churchtown House Stud.

“It was a family that we had before that was very good to us, and we bought back into it when we bought Plying,” Gaffney explains. “We bred Nasaieb and we had her dam here, Atyaaf. So we lost the family, we tried to get back into it and that's how we ended up with Plying. I suppose we are a farm that loves families, and we try to build out from them knowing what works and what doesn't for them. With Plying, she just didn't work out for us and at some stage you just have to face up to that and that's what we did.”

Plying had been bought from Darley by the Gaffneys in 2013 for €12,000 and she was sold five years later at the Goffs November Sale for €21,000, two days after her then-unnamed No Nay Never foal had caught the eye of Littleton Stud manager David Bowe, who bought her for €40,000. The mare's only other winner to date is Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who, Like Alcohol Free, demonstrated a love of soft ground when landing the listed Prix le Fabuleux at Chantilly for Anne-Sophie Crombez.

Gaffney, whose brother Tom manages Coolmore's Castlehyde Stud, continues, “As well as foals and yearlings we sell the odd mare from time to time as you're always trying to replenish your stock. We have pivoted a little bit in the last number of years and kept a share in the offspring of some of our better mares and raced a few of them. That has worked out very well for us and this year seems to be one of those absolute purple years for us.”

The purple patch has included the smart Fozzy Stack-trained Castle Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), the winner of the G3 Marble Hill S. and runner-up in the G2 Railway S. who is likely to be seen next in the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. on Sunday. The juvenile was bred and initially raced in a partnership by the farm before being sold privately to Craig Bernick and Antony Beck in June.

The stud's credentials have also been enhanced in America by Higher Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a 500,000gns Book 1 yearling sold to Mike Ryan two years ago. Recently third in the GI Belmont Oaks for Chad Brown, Higher Truth is a daughter of Churchtown House's G3 Ballycorus S. winner Wannabe Better (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) whose first foal, Lady Wannabe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), also trained by Stack, was retained to race in partnership with Clem and Barbara Murphy and won last season's G3 Darley S.

“We have another filly we bred called Sure Break (Ire) with Neil Drysdale in America and she is two from three, so we are having a glorious year,” says Gaffney. “Three of our other horses are rated 90 or over, so I suppose it's like what they say about buses, but every farm needs a year like this every now and then. The absolute brilliant thing about horses is that you never know, and every now and then something comes along and surprises you.”

The prowess of Alcohol Free, who is the highest-earning filly in Britain and Ireland this year, and behind only Derby and King George winner Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) overall, did perhaps not come as a total surprise to her breeder, however.

“She was an exceptionally good-looking filly, possibly didn't have the best action, and as you know going to the sales everybody wants this big-walking horse and she possibly didn't have that. But as an individual she was the eye-catcher in the field,” Gaffney recalls.

“David Bowe saw her at the sales and fair dues to him, he could see what a beauty she was, and in David's favour was not having to resell her. For us, we're so proud of Alcohol Free because it just proves we've got back after a long time to breeding a Group 1 horse again. We had Wannabe Grand (Ire) on the farm a good number of years ago and that family has really flourished for us, and that's the most important thing.”

He adds, “What has made it even more special with Alcohol Free is that Oisin Murphy used to live in Churchtown with his uncle Jim Culloty and we would have known him when he was really small, so it's a most fantastic tie-up. Everybody in Churchtown has been very proud of Oisin and we were very proud of what Jim did for an area like Churchtown when he was training here. I know they are Kerrymen and we are here in Cork over the border, but we are very proud of them.”

It is possible that the Gaffney family won't have too long to wait for their next Group 1 winner. Castle Star has various targets pencilled in, including the G1 Darley Prix Morny, and his dam Awohaam (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) is back in foal to his sire Starspangledbanner with a U S Navy Flag foal this year.

“The day she foaled the filly, Fozzy rang me and asked what she was going back to and he said for his money she should be going back to Starspangledbanner,” Gaffney notes. “I thought to myself obviously something good happened on the gallops this morning. Usually when a trainer rings they are dream-ending conversations rather than dream-beginning conversations.”

By May 3, Castle Star was a listed winner, and he has continued to improve on that in his next two starts.

“Hopefully he's going to the Phoenix Stakes next and Fozzy is very bullish about him. We will ride on his coat-tails as he keeps going forward,” says Gaffney.

In a terrific season, the Gaffneys have plenty of coat-tails to grab as the dream remains very much alive. 

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No Nay Never’s Alcohol Free Takes The Coronation

Just minutes after losing the argument for keeping the G1 Commonwealth Cup on Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}), Oisin Murphy was playing Mr bouncebackability as he steered Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) to clear-cut glory in the G1 Coronation S. It will certainly be a Royal Ascot Friday the reigning champion jockey, who has generally been put through the emotional wringer this month, will never forget with such extreme highs and lows all within the space of less than an hour. To add another aside to this tumultuous spell, Alcohol Free even opted to drop him as he was making his way back to the hallowed place having seen off TDN Rising Star Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and the G1 1000 Guineas heroine Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). Jeff Smith's G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine had stamina doubts entering this test, with her fifth in Newmarket's Guineas largely inconclusive, but trainer Andrew Balding who is having a Royal Ascot to savour was adamant she possessed the right material. Buried in mid-pack early, the 11-2 shot was the first to subdue the aggressively-ridden G2 German 1000 Guineas winner Novemba (Ger) (Gleneagles {Ire}) passing the furlong pole before answering the doubters with a continued surge to put 1 1/2 lengths between her and Snow Lantern. Mother Earth was a model of consistency as usual, a neck further behind, denying the game Novemba third place by half a length. “I didn't get a chance to stress ahead of Alcohol Free,” Murphy said. “I said it to my valet that 'there's no place for tears in here–there are far worse things going on in the world' and we're in the entertainment industry. Alcohol Free is a real pain, but so talented and they got her here in super form.”

In a quirk of fate, Alcohol Free received the widest stall on her first two starts at two and while it was not a major problem on her winning debut at Newbury in August it probably cost her when 3/4-of-a-length second to the battle-hardened Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in Salisbury's G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S. in early September. Late that month, the bay got it together to deny Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) in the Cheveley Park at Newmarket showing the kind of pace that suggested a mile would be a stretch. Coming back in the seven-furlong G3 Fred Darling S. at Newbury Apr. 18, she was stuck out on the wing again but had enough to deny Statement (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) by a short head. While that performance entitled her to a crack at the May 2 Newmarket Classic, it didn't scream Guineas winner and in the event itself she was again wide without cover and not seen to best effect. Although she was only two lengths off Mother Earth there, connections were convinced that she had not given her true running and it was full steam ahead to this test.

Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) was a significant non-runner due to the drastic change in going brought about by the almost apocalyptic weather, and her absence was to leave some important questions unanswered with Snow Lantern having trailed her at York last time. Alcohol Free was due to be drawn wide before the stalls were moved to the far rail and that slice of fortune meant that she received early cover as David Egan took the bull by the horns on the German raider Novemba. Dragging his rivals into action in early straight as he kicked again on the runaway German Guineas winner, Egan drew the sting from TDN Rising Star Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) but Murphy was still happy in behind and even had time to remove his goggles as he angled his mount for her challenge. As the winner settled the outcome passing the furlong pole, Snow Lantern who had run freely throughout the early stages as she had at York was forced to change course slightly before storming home.

“What worried me was the clerk of the course decided to put the stalls on the far rail. That was fine, but then everyone wants to get to that rail and I was worried it was going to get congested,” Murphy added. “Alcohol Free relaxed, I stayed on the bit for as long as I could and given her pedigree, she was always going to handle the ground.” Balding admitted to a feeling of deflation after the Guineas and said, “Alcohol Free is very classy. We had heavy hearts after Newmarket, because it isn't often you go into a Classic expecting to win it. For whatever reason, it didn't pan out that day and she was below-par, but she was back to her best today and she looked pretty good. We were a bit concerned when all the rain came, because her stamina wasn't guaranteed, but full credit to Oisin–it's the measure of the man to have the disappointment he had five minutes before they go in the stalls. To give her such a good ride takes some doing.”

“We have worked her at home plenty of times on soft ground, it doesn't inconvenience her and she travels very strongly–it was just whether she would see out the final furlong and I was very grateful that she really powered home,” the Kingsclere handler said. “Today was the first time ever she has got some cover and it's been through ill-luck rather than design that she hasn't before. The slightly awkward draw turned into a really good draw when they started to race down under the trees and she got some cover and switched off beautifully. She did win a group 1 last year, so there's never been any doubt about her ability but she needed a bit of luck and everything to drop right. She's in the [G1] July Cup [at Newmarket July 10] and the [G1] Sussex Stakes [at Goodwood July 28]–whether she does both or one I don't know, but I think we'll stick to Britain this year.”

Richard Hannon said of Snow Lantern, “Her day will come and she's run a super race. We had a point to prove after York. She is an aeroplane. In terms of what I came here wanting, she's done–she was so much less keen.”

Alcohol Free is out of Plying (Hard Spun), a dual winner in the Sheikh Mohammed silks for the Henri-Alex Pantall stable who was initially a $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August Yearling purchase before selling out of a Darley draft for €12,000 to BBA Ireland at the 2013 Arqana December Sale. Five years later, she was bought by Jossestown Farm for €21,000 at the Goffs November auction and the rest is history. Also responsible for the Listed Prix le Fabuleux winner Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), she is out of the Listed National S.-placed Nasaieb (Ire) (Fairy King) who produced the G2 Flying Childers S. and G3 Princess Margaret S. third Kissing Lights (Ire) Machiavellian). Nasaieb is a half-sister to the G3 Solario S. scorer Raise a Grand (Ire) (Grand Lodge) from the family of the champion Numbered Account (Buckpasser). Plying's unraced 2-year-old filly Hooked On You (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) was a 130,000gns purchase by Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale and is in training with Karl Burke. Her yearling colt by Dandy Man (Ire) was bought by Ballyhane for €80,000 at the Goffs November Foal Sale.

Friday, Royal Ascot, Britain
CORONATION S.-G1, £426,875, Ascot, 6-18, 3yo, f, 7f 213yT, 1:43.13, hy.
1–ALCOHOL FREE (IRE), 126, f, 3, by No Nay Never
1st Dam: Plying, by Hard Spun
2nd Dam: Nasaieb (Ire), by Fairy King
3rd Dam: Atyaaf, by Irish River (Fr)
(€40,000 Wlg '18 GOFNOV). O-J C Smith; B-Churchtown House Stud (IRE); T-Andrew Balding; J-Oisin Murphy. £242,081. Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-0, $558,968. *1/2 to Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), SW-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Snow Lantern (GB), 126, f, 3, Frankel (GB)–Sky Lantern (Ire), Red Clubs (Ire). O/B-Rockcliffe Stud (GB); T-Richard Hannon. £91,778.
3–Mother Earth (Ire), 126, f, 3, Zoffany (Ire)–Many Colours (GB), by Green Desert. (€150,000 Ylg '19 GOFOR). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Grenane House Stud (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £45,932.
Margins: 1HF, NK, HF. Odds: 5.50, 14.00, 4.50.
Also Ran: Novemba (Ger), Pretty Gorgeous (Fr), Fev Rover (Ire), Flirting Bridge (Ire), Empress Josephine (Ire), Potapova (GB), Shale (Ire), Lullaby Moon (GB). Scratched: Oodnadatta (Ire), Primo Bacio (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by TVG.

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Harry Eustace Continues Family Training Tradition

Within the same week that Thady Gosden joined his father John on the joint-training licence at Clarehaven, across town a metaphorical baton was passed from father to son at one of Newmarket's most historic stables, Park Lodge. 

This has been both home and place of business to James and Gay Eustace for a little over 30 years and the time has come for their eldest son Harry to convert his extensive and diverse apprenticeship into becoming a trainer in his own right. James has thus stood aside for Harry to take over the licence and the running of the stable, while he and Gay maintain an involvement as directors of the company. 

Despite the fact that training partnerships were recently introduced in Britain, and that the couple's other son, David, now trains in partnership with Ciaron Maher in one of the most successful stables in Australia, James is content with their new arrangement, which is still very much a family business.

He says. “I think [partnerships are] a very good idea, but we've planned this for a few years, really. Obviously, having training partnerships has been a marvellous opportunity for David, our youngest son. He's got a fantastic position in Australian racing due to training partnerships. Harry is now two years older than I was when I first took out a licence. He's got an amazing CV, far better than I had. He will make an excellent trainer. And, frankly, it's his time.”

Eustace senior is good at heaping praise on others, not that his assessment of his son is at all wide of the mark. Harry has more than served his time as understudy, not just by growing up in a stable in the heart of Newmarket, but by working as assistant at home and around the world to William Haggas, Chris Wall, Jeremy Noseda, Lee and Anthony Freedman, Peter and Paul Snowden and Christophe Clement, as well as completing the highly regarded Irish National Stud course. But in a business in which competitiveness, and a potential range of tricky traits that go hand-in-hand with that rivalry, James Eustace has remained the epitome of the type of Englishman which is fast vanishing: charming, decent, honest and, above all, self-effacing. 

For example, he says of his Park Lodge predecessor, Ron Sheather, trainer of the top-class sprinter-miler Chief Singer (Ire), “I think Ron trained for 13 years and he trained a Group winner every year bar one, and never had more than 30 horses. It took me 13 years to train a Group winner. I mean that is an amazing record. I don't personally think he ever really got the credit he deserved for the quality of trainer that he was.”

Of his own stepping down from the limelight, Eustace adds, “I don't need to see my name in the paper. You know, I've been there, done it. I do think one man has got to make the decisions. And, frankly, I'll be very relaxed not having to make the decisions. It's over to Harry now. So in a way, I've got the best of every world. I ride the hack out two lots every day and have all the pleasures, but none of the stress—or a lot less of the stress anyway.”

However steady one's temperament, there is of course no avoiding a certain amount of stress when it comes to the business of training racehorses. Harry appears to have a similarly laidback and friendly approach to life as his father, and he admits that he has plenty to thank his distaff line for as well. His mother Gay is the daughter of Alan and Diane Oughton, and the sister of David Oughton, trainer of G1 Golden Jubilee S. winner Cape Of Good Hope (GB) (Inchinor {GB}).

“Frankly, she's the one with the pedigree,” says Harry. “Both her parents trained, and her brother trained very successfully in Hong Kong, and brought a Royal Ascot winner over. She's the one who actually has the background for it, and knows the industry very well. She certainly knows how to run a business impeccably well.”

He adds with a grin, “Unfortunately, Mum has introduced monthly accounts meetings, which means I can't get too loose with the spending. So we'll just have to keep track of those. I think for the first ten years that they trained here, it was, you know, belt-tightening stuff. I'm sure Dad would agree that the reason it managed to keep going in the early days is that Mum ran an incredibly tight ship. So without her, neither of us would be sitting here. Well, that's definitely true for me anyway!”

The Eustaces bought Park Lodge Stables from Chief Singer's owner Jeff Smith, who in turn had taken over its ownership from Richard Galpin of the Newmarket Bloodstock Agency in order to ensure that Ron Sheather could continue to train from the yard adjacent to Newmarket's famous Jockey Club Rooms. 

Smith, whose breeding operation is based at Littleton Stud in Hampshire, has remained a loyal supporter throughout the three decades, with his homebred Orcadian (GB) (Kirkwall {GB}) having been trained by Eustace to win five races, including the G3 St Simon S. and listed August S.

A portrait on the kitchen wall depicts Orcadian with two of his stable-mates of the time: the listed winners Welcome Stranger (GB) (Most Welcome {GB}), a homebred for Henry and Rosemary Moszkowicz, and Rachel Wilson's homebred Ruby Wine (GB), who owns a footnote in history as the sole Flat stakes winner for her sire Kayf Tara (GB). Such owner-breeders have been the mainstay of many of the country's smaller stables for generations, but as times change all trainers have had to adapt, and syndicates are now a major part of many operations. 

One of those at Park Lodge Stables, Blue Peter Racing is a nod to the yard's most illustrious former resident, Lord Rosebery's 1939 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Blue Peter (GB), trained by Jack Jarvis. The box from which the colt was trained is now occupied by six-time winner Coverham (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}), who was James Eustace's final runner on Mar. 26. The Classic winner's old stable still has his name painted on the back wall, along with strips of Lord Rosebery's colours of primrose and rose.

Eustace is a walking history book when it comes to his yard, which dates back to the 17th century and was once owned by William Crockford, who was responsible for starting Newmarket's gambling halls in the early part of the 19th century. A further link to that history for the current incumbent is that Eustace was introduced to racing by his old schoolfriend and fellow Newmarket trainer William Jarvis, the great nephew of Blue Peter's trainer. 

He says, “Jack Jarvis trained here from the end of the First World War until he died in the winter of 1968, and Sleeping Partner (GB) won the Oaks in 69. He trained here for 50 years and trained a lot of good horses, including Blue Peter, who was odds-on to become a Triple Crown winner but then the St Leger was cancelled because of the outbreak of the Second World War. The [National Horseracing] museum used to have his Gallops Book and it was open at Blue Peter's last trial before the Leger. There were some amazingly good horses in this trial and Jack Jarvis wrote underneath something like, 'this is the best piece of work I have ever watched'.”

Eustace continues, “Jeff Smith bought the yard when Richard Galpin had to sell, and that was really in order for Ron to be able to carry on training here. Ron and Jeff were a great partnership and it's a measure of Jeff Smith that after Chief Singer was syndicated to stud, he said to Ron that he could have the yard as a gift or the equivalent in money.”

He adds, “I'm delighted to say that Jeff is carrying on supporting Harry. In fact, all our owners, to a man, have stayed, in spite of Covid and all the rest of it.”

As the pandemic first struck, Harry Eustace was wrapping up his tenure with William Haggas by overseeing the training of Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and Young Rascal (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) in Australia, where they each won Group races, with Addeybb notching a Group 1 double. He has first-hand experience of stables large and small and is relishing the possibility of getting his hands on a classy performer like the stable's former star War Artist (Aus) (Orpen), who won the G2 Golden Peitsche as well as finishing runner-up in the G1 Golden Jubilee S. for James Eustace.

He says, “The beauty of growing up with Dad is that with a smaller stable, each winner is incredibly precious. Also when a good horse does come around, you know, there's a stark contrast. So you try and manage them particularly well to make them last as a successful racehorse at their highest level for as long as you can. They're very hard to come by, so when they do come around, you want to look after them.”

Harry continues, “I also worked for a fantastic horseman in Christophe Clement. He was brilliant with horses and was incredibly patient and allowed horses time to mature. He gave them longevity, which I think is something that now more than ever is something that we need to think about. Certainly on the Flat, because the jumps game has horses people can get behind because they're around a while, but I think if we can have Flat horses that are around a while, that will only help us.”

While concentrating on his own first days as a trainer, Harry has also been keeping an eye on his brother's stable, which claimed another Group 1 at the weekend with the imported Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

He adds, “It's very easy to keep in touch with anyone anywhere now, so we're always in touch, and it's equally easy to follow runners and winners. We're obviously incredibly proud of what he's done down there. They've sort of taken it to another level. They're so far clear in the Victorian premiership and Sir Dragonet was a real feather in the cap.”

And he is keen to emulate his fellow Newmarket trainers such as William Haggas, Ed Dunlop and Charlie Fellowes in campaigning horses abroad, particularly on his brother's new patch.

“Travelling horses is the new norm really,” Harry says. “I think it's what people are always thinking about. For that reason, having worked abroad in most of the major racing jurisdictions, knowing people where your horse is going to run, can only be an added bonus. In particular Australia, having my brother down there will help. So to take a horse down there, that would be the dream.”

In the meantime, Newmarket is about to burst back into life with next week's Craven Meeting, though the name Harry Eustace could appear on a race card before that as the town's newest trainer has an entry at Lingfield on Saturday with Potenza (Ire) (Born To Sea {Ire}), already a three-time winner for the stable.

“We've got 30 [horses] in and about 35 on the books,” he says. “We'd be about 50/50 2-year-olds to older horses. Predominately the 3-year-olds are quite lightly raced—very kindly, Dad looked after them last year. Hopefully a couple of them can progress. Then we're just fingers crossed that a 2-year-old can step up and and be half decent.”

And despite there being a different name on the licence, there's very much an echo of the old Eustace modesty and manners that people have become accustomed to as Harry concludes, “But we're very lucky that everybody stayed and some new people have come in. To back a first-up trainer, I think takes a bit of courage, so it's very kind of them to do so.”

 

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