‘I’ve Never Given Myself a Chance to Fail’: Luke Morris on High Days and Hard Work

There can have been no finer example of reward for effort than the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Not only for the mare herself, slogging through the Longchamp mud with five Group 1 wins already to her name, but for her trainer Sir Mark Prescott and owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing, who have collectively a century of experience in this great sport between them. Then there was her jockey, Luke Morris. Not the most fashionable member of the British weighing-room, but certainly the most worthy, for barely a day goes by that he is not grafting away and, since 2011, not a season has passed without Morris riding at least 100 winners. 

Ironically, 2022 was by one measure his least successful season for the last 12 years, as his final tally was 'only' 103 winners. But it was of course his most significantly prestigious year, with his gallant grey partner providing him with three Group 1 victories, in France and Britain, to add to the trio of German Group 1 titles collected the previous year, culminating in one of the most emotional Arc victories in living memory. 

“Going to Longchamp on that day, I'm realistic enough, I know I'm not really going to ride a favourite or a second favourite probably in the Arc again in my career,” he reflects. “So I was very relaxed about it and I just wanted to enjoy the day, enjoy the moment. And I'd gone through everything with a fine-tooth comb, and I just wanted to leave no stone unturned. Because you only get one shot at these sort of things. So it was so nice when everything worked out exactly how we hoped and how we planned, really.”

Alpinista is not, of course, the only good horse with whom Morris has been associated in a riding career which is heading towards the 20-year mark. Gilt Edge Girl (GB) (Monsieur Bond {Ire}) was his first Group 1 winner, at the same track, for Clive Cox in the Prix de l'Abbaye back in 2010. Six years later he was back at 'lucky Longchamp' to claim the same race aboard the Prescott-trained Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). That lightning-fast filly would go on to win another two group races the following year, including the G1 Nunthorpe S., but even her achievements must pale slightly when set against the record of Alpinista, on whose dam Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) Morris won three races, and whose grand-dam Albanova (GB) (Alzao) was another to heap Group 1 successes on Prescott's Heath House Stables.

Morris says, “I've ridden lots of the dams of the fillies we get from Lanwades and Miss Rausing. And, for me, it was hugely rewarding to be able to almost repay the faith that Sir Mark and Miss Rausing had put into me by giving me the job with Sir Mark at a very young age. I think it was only my second year out of my claim and I had ridden a Group 1 winner but I hadn't had many opportunities in big races. Sir Mark gave me opportunities for big owner-breeders at a young stage of my career. And to be able to repay him and Miss Rausing was something special to me.”

An Arc victory would be a highlight on any jockey's CV, but one senses that Morris takes pride in every winner. Last week he reached another important milestone in his career when riding his 2,000th winner in Britain, a feat which has only been achieved by five other jockeys currently riding in the country: Frankie Dettori, Joe Fanning, Paul Hanagan, Ryan Moore and Jamie Spencer.

“Last year was a year I'll never forget,” he says. “And to ride 2,000 winners has been on my radar for probably a couple of years now. There are five or six other jockeys who are still riding who have done it and I think just about every one of them has been a champion jockey. So it's something I'm immensely proud of, and it just spurs me on to keep working harder to ride more winners, and to try and ride good winners as well.”

It is hard to imagine how Morris would find the time to work harder than he does already. While many of his contemporaries in the weighing-room are enjoying less taxing winter-riding gigs in warmer climes, he is driving through the freezing fog currently engulfing Britain to take full books of rides on the all-weather tracks. As we speak, he is about to head to Southwell's evening meeting to ride six horses for six different trainers. It is the kind of punishing schedule a jockey on the way up must adhere to if the rides are available, but the tall, lean Morris, now 34, has long since proved his worth. His right foot does not look like it will be easing off the accelerator any time soon, however. 

“Weight-wise, I'm quite lucky in that I naturally sit around 8st 4, so generally I don't have to sweat or lose too much weight, but being busy all the time just means I never really get the chance to put any weight on, so that suits me well,” he says. “And since I first started out, from my first, probably even before my first ride, I always had a fear of failure. So I've never given myself a chance to fail, really.

“I remember the days when I was 12 or 13, I used to ride out every day before school for Michael Bell, and even when we had the six-week summer holidays, I told my parents I wouldn't be allowed a day off. Because it was more important that I was in there riding out every day, rather than going on a family holiday.”

Plenty of parents would be delighted to see a similar work ethic in their teenage children, and Morris's dedicated approach is clearly one which sits well with his long-term employer, who expects loyalty from those connected to his stable, but gives the same in return.

“Sir Mark has had three jockeys in 53 years of training,” notes Morris, who followed George Duffield and Seb Sanders in the role. “He expects you to be extremely professional, to work hard, and he's the same. So, like I say, I can't thank Sir Mark enough for what he's done for my career, and I'd like to think riding for him, since I joined him, I've stepped up my game, because his traits have rubbed off on me. We've got some really nice yearlings this year from good owner-breeders again, so you just hope that there's going to be another good one along soon.”

In the meantime, Morris is using what little spare time he has to nurture his own breeding ambitions. He spent the December Mares' Sale pounding the yards at Tattersalls in search of a mare with the help of Joseph Burke.

“After Alpinista won the Arc, I said I'd treat myself to a relatively nice broodmare,” he explains. “We saw some [at Tattersalls], and we underbid a few but didn't have much luck. So Joe went off to Arqana and we got a mare called Clara Luna.”

Clara Luna (Ire), a daughter of Muhtathir (GB) and half-sister to the G2 Prix Muguet winner Don Bosco (Fr) (Barathea {Ire}), has already produced the GIII Pin Oak Valley View S. winner Colonia (Fr) (Champs Elysees {GB}). The name of another Arc winner, Enable (GB), appears under her third dam, Fleet Girl (Ire), who was an early acquisition for Prince Khalid Abdullah when he bought Ferrans Stud in 1982. And a touch of loyalty to Lanwades is exhibited by the fact that Clara Luna was bought in foal to Sea The Moon (Ger).

“I've been interested in bloodstock and racing since I was six years old and I've been wanting to get a mare, but when the time was right. So she stays at home for most of the year and then will go off to foal. It's hugely exciting on a different spectrum, really,” says Morris.

“I hadn't met Joe before, but he'd come highly recommended and I spent a week walking around the mares with him before I went racing every day. I couldn't believe how much I learnt in a week walking around with him, because I might know a bit about form, but looking at mares I was a little bit lost and Joe taught me plenty in that week. I don't really have many hobbies outside racing, so it's my hobby, not that it's really outside of racing, but it feels that way.”

He adds, “Once she foals to Sea The Moon, she'll return to Study Of Man, who is obviously a son of Deep Impact, and from what Saxon Warrior has done, we very much hope that he'll follow that path. I studied the Return of Mares, and Miss Rausing's sent some good mares to him, so hopefully he can reward her and reward everyone that supports him.”

Morris may yet have the pleasure of riding the offspring of Study Of Man and Alpinista, with Rausing having stated that the mare would visit the young stallion during her second season after a potential first mating with Dubawi (Ire).

 

Luke Morris, age seven, with Flemensfirth

Along with a fledgling equine breeding project, Morris has his own young family to keep him busy, and his 13-month-old son Henry has already taken to the saddle in the hunting field over Christmas. The jockey's own passion for horses was sparked when he moved to Newmarket at the age of six and walked to school alongside the town's horse walks as members of the racing community went about their daily work. Before long, he was one of them.

“My stepdad worked for John Gosden and he used to look after Flemensfirth and ride him every day. So every day of the school holidays, I used to go and watch Flemensfirth swim, and give him a pat, and it almost felt like I was part of the team then. So that was probably where I really got hooked,” he recalls.

“I've always had a passion for horse racing. If wasn't a jockey, I'd be a massive horse racing fan because I love horses, and I just feel lucky that I've found something to do as a career that is very much like a hobby to me.”

That old saying may go, 'do something that you love and you'll never work a day in your life,' but don't be fooled. It is hard work that got Luke Morris to where he is today, and hard work will doubtless keep him at the top of his profession for years to come. That he derives so much pleasure from that position is a much-deserved benefit. 

The post ‘I’ve Never Given Myself a Chance to Fail’: Luke Morris on High Days and Hard Work appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Twelve Questions: Kirsten Rausing

First job in the Thoroughbred industry?
Mucking out boxes, raking gravel at Simontorp Stud in Sweden.

Biggest influence on your career?
Captain A.D.D. 'Tim' Rogers of Airlie Stud, Lucan, Co Dublin; he single-handedly invented the European bloodstock industry.

Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?
Nijinsky – superb athlete; strong and correct with a most beautiful head; probably the last-ever Triple Crown winner…and sire of Niniski (without whom, no Lanwades Stud today).

Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?
I would of course hope for Study Of Man, but realistically, it will be a sprint-oriented type who has covered more than 200 mares in 2020.

Greatest race in the world?
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (I have to say that).

If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?
I can think of a couple of names here but, to save everyone's embarrassment, nothing fit to print.

Emerging talent in the industry (human)?
Plenty of them!

Horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?
Empress Wu, a 2020 bay filly by Sea The Moon ex Chinoiserie, by Archipenko. Easy winner (from the worst draw in the race) on her only start to date (Lingfield, Nov. 12) beating colts. Her dam is an own-sister to G1 Champion Fillies' and Mares' S. winner Madame Chiang.

Under-the-radar stallion?
Study Of Man: unlikely to remain so!

Friday night treat?
Watching Babylon Berlin.

Guilty pleasure outside racing?
A rum punch on the veranda when the Caribbean night closes in.

Race you wish you'd been there for… 
Mahmoud winning the Derby in 1936, in a record time which stood for 59 years – if only to see the condition of the track at Epsom on the day; it must have been rock hard (officially described as “firm”). Possibly there was even quite reduced grass coverage on parts of the course. What could present-day industry participants learn from this? In spite of Mahmoud's not winning again after his Derby triumph, to his credit he ran three more times, including in the St Leger (in which his stamina ran out and he finished third). His legacy lives on through his granddaughter, Natalma and her son, Northern Dancer.

 

The post Twelve Questions: Kirsten Rausing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Rausing Hails ‘Exceptional’ Alpinista as Arc Winner Retires

The six-time Group 1 winner and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}–Alwilda {GB}, by Hernando {Fr}) has been retired from racing after a “slight setback” and will not contest the G1 Japan Cup at the end of the month.

The 5-year-old, bred and owned by Kirsten Rausing and trained by Sir Mark Prescott, recorded her six top-level wins in consecutive starts in Germany, England and France in the last two seasons, taking her unbeaten stretch to eight races in 16 months. In total, she ran 15 times for 10 wins and two runner-up finishes, earning prize-money in excess of £3.3 million.

Following her emotional success at ParisLongchamp in early October, Alpinista had remained in training at Prescott's Heath House Stables in Newmarket with a possible swansong in Tokyo on the cards, but a decision was taken to retire her on Thursday morning after she sustained a minor injury.

Rausing, who was honoured with the Cartier/Daily Telepgraph Award of Merit at the Cartier Awards in London on Wednesday evening, said of her homebred, “She's exceptional. She is extra special to me and to anyone who has ever been around her. I feel guilty for wrenching her away from [rider/groom] Annabel Willis but, as I keep saying to Annabel, she is only going to be three miles up the road so she can come to see her any time.

“It will be great to have her home. She and her contemporary Albaflora (GB), who was twice Group 1-placed, will have pride of place here at Lanwades. They are two beauty queens and we will parade them at the stallion show during the December Sales.

“People ask me if she was my horse of a lifetime, and in many ways yes she is, but so was her grandaunt Alborada (GB), and so was Petoski (GB) before her. So, maybe every 25 or 30 years they come along, if you're lucky.”

Sir Mark Prescott, who also trained Alpinista's dam Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and treble Group 1-winning granddam Albanova (GB) (Alzao), said, “She had a bit of heat in her leg last night when I was at the Cartier Awards dinner. William [Butler, assistant trainer] looked round and thought there was heat in the leg. When I looked at her first thing this morning, I wasn't happy, so that's it–she retires.

“She has been marvellous and hasn't been beaten for two years, she won six Group 1s in three different countries. She has been fantastic. She will join a wonderful broodmare band at Miss Rausing's.”

On the scuppered plans for the Japan Cup, he added, “The other terrible thing is the Japanese have bent over backwards to help us and I feel very guilty. They have done absolutely everything they could to make things easy for us. I felt as guilty letting them know as I did poor Miss Rausing.

“She took it well. She never flinches. But when you are 5-2 to win six million [dollars], whoever you are, it is a blow. It would have been a big thrill to win. I think, for Miss Rausing, almost there is a tinge of relief, because the filly has done so well and it would have been so awful if something had gone wrong out there. It is never easy travelling that far and the thought of looking at her every morning over your garden fence is not a bad thought. If it is the highest-rated filly in the world outside your back door, it must give you tremendous satisfaction.

“So, it is a moderate morning. I won't find one as good as her–it has taken me 53 years to find this one.”

Alpinista is a fourth-generation descendant of the noted Lanwades matriarch Alruccaba (Ire) (Crystal Palace {Fr}), who was bought as a 3-year-old from her breeder the Aga Khan by Kirsten Rausing and Sonia Rogers. The identity of the stallion for her first mating next year has not yet been confirmed, though  Rausing had previously hinted that she may visit the champion sire-elect, Dubawi (Ire), whose fee was announced yesterday as £350,000.

Reflecting on her Cartier Award of Merit, which is awarded annually to the person deemed to have “done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months”, Rausing added, “I was totally taken aback by the whole thing. I really would like to see the video again because you're so overwhelmed you can't really take it all in.

“It has been an absolutely extraordinary year. It's all come together but as far as I'm concerned it is all down to my marvellous home team at the three studs–Lanwades, St Simon and Staffordstown–and their combined many hundreds of years of horsemanship. A lot of my people have been with me for 25 years or more, so I am very fortunate, and of course we have been joined by young Mr. Oxx as well.”

This year, Lanwades Stud has been represented by four Group 1-winning graduates, Alpinista being joined by the St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the Australian-trained duo of Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) and Durston (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).

The post Rausing Hails ‘Exceptional’ Alpinista as Arc Winner Retires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Shadwell’s Baaeed Crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year

Shadwell homebred Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was named the Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier Older Horse at the 32nd Cartier Racing Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Wednesday evening.

The first Shadwell colourbearer to earn the Horse of the Year accolade, the William Haggas trainee added another four Group 1 victories to his pair earned in 2021, posting wins in the Lockinge S., Queen Anne S., Sussex S., and International S. in succession. His only loss in an 11-start career was a fourth-place finish in the G1 Champion S. on QIPCO British Champions Day in October. It was announced on Tuesday that the son of Aghareed (Kingmambo) would stand for £80,000 at Shadwell's Nunnery Stud in 2023.

Also shortlisted for Horse of the Year were G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), quadruple Group 1-winning stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and three-time Group 1-winning sprinter Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). G1 Champion S. hero Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) and dual Group 1-winning miler Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) were fellow nominees in the Cartier Older Horse category.

His Highness The Aga Khan's Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) was named the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt on the back of victories in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Eclipse S., and G3 Prix de Guiche. Runner-up in Alpinista's Arc, the Jean-Claude Rouget trainee was also third in the G1 Irish Champion S. He follows Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) (2000) and Dalakhani (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) (2003) in earning the 3-year-old colt award for the owner-breeder. This year marked the centennial of The Aga Khan's operation.

Already awarded the title of Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly, Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) became just the third filly to also take the Cartier 3-Year-Old Filly title. The Cheveley Park Stud homebred is in good company, however, as the earlier two winners are none other than Divine Proportions (Kingmambo) in 2005 and Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2016. The John and Thady Gosden-trained bay scored an imperious victory in Royal Ascot's G1 Coronation S., and, after a second-place finish in the G1 Falmouth S., she bounced back with a gritty win in Deauville's G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois.

Kyprios proved unstoppable in the stayers' ranks throughout a six-start 4-year-old season, collecting victories from April through October. Trained by Aidan O'Brien for Moyglare Stud and the Coolmore partners, the chestnut's victory in the Listed Vintage Crop S. kickstarted a tour de force, quickly followed by the G3 Saval Beg Levmoss S. a month later. Stepped up to Group 1 company, the colt delivered in the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup S., Irish St. Leger, and the Oct. 1 Prix du Cadran was a 20-length demolition job.

A hardy veteran of the handicap ranks, Highfield Princess proved a revelation when cut back to sprinting trips for owner-breeder John Fairley and trainer John Quinn. In action from February through November, the 5-year-old scored her first group win in the G2 Clipper Logistics S. at York in May, her fifth start of 2022. She earned her first top-drawer tally in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest two starts later at Deauville on Aug. 7, and then added the G1 Nunthorpe S. returned to the Knavesmire and in the Curragh's G1 Flying Five S, in August and September, respectively. Connections opted to try for an international Group 1 four-timer at the Breeders' Cup, but her draw and a rough trip did her no favours, and she was a close fourth.

Part of a legion of Group 1-winning juveniles for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners in 2022, Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) got the nod as the Cartier 2-Year-Old Colt. He won six of his eight starts in a busy 2-year-old campaign which culminated in a two-length victory in the G1 Middle Park S. The Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Westerberg silksbearer also captured the G1 Prix Morny, G2 Prix Robert Papin, G3 Marble Hill S. and the Listed First Flier S. Set for stallion duties at Coolmore Ireland in 2023, he was second by a nostril in the G2 Railway S. en route to championship honours.

Blackbeard's Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly counterpart is Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}). The Ralph Beckett-trained filly, owned by Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen, was first or second in all five starts in 2022. After taking the Listed Empress Fillies S. in late June, she was only a half-length back of 'TDN Rising Star' Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. at Newmarket a month later, and returned to winning ways in the G3 Princess Margaret S. at Ascot on July 23. Lezoo defeated subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Meditate (Ire) No Nay Never) in the G1 Cheveley Park S. back at Newmarket to end her season on a high in September.

The recipient of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit is owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing of Lanwades Stud. Besides celebrating her homebred Alpinista winning the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Rausing was also the breeder of G1 St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), as well as recent Australian Group 1 winners Zaaki (GB) and Durston (GB). In addition, Rausing serves as an integral figure in the sport's governance and administration, while through her Alborada Trust, she has also provided vital funding for a host of causes in racing and wider society.

Laurent Feniou, Managing Director of Cartier UK, said, “We have been fortunate to witness another exceptional year of European horse racing and I am delighted to celebrate an outstanding group of horses at the 32nd Cartier Racing Awards. Baaeed lit up the season with four brilliant victories and he is a worthy recipient of the Cartier Horse of the Year award. We are also thrilled to honour Kirsten Rausing, who has given so much to the industry, with the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. It is a privilege for Cartier to be able to recognise these champions of the sport and my deepest congratulations go out to all of this year's winners. I would like to extend special thanks to Racing Post, The Daily Telegraph and Sky Sports Racing for their continued support of the awards.”

The post Shadwell’s Baaeed Crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights