Tag: Kirsten Rausing

Alpinista to Dubawi? Rausing Drops Hint at Star Mare’s Stud Plans

Kirsten Rausing has dropped a firm hint that her Arc heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) could visit Dubawi (Ire) in her first season at stud next year. Though not confirming or naming Darley's 20-year-old stallion, who looks on course to be champion sire for the first time this year, the breeder told the Nick Luck Daily podcast on Tuesday, “Obviously there are a few horses she could visit, and one in particular who is not getting any younger, but nothing is written in stone yet so therefore I can't really talk about that until I have made firm arrangements.”

She added, “I would think that your listeners will know which way my mind is going because one has to look not only at what makes a pretty pattern on paper but what is logistically and in general possible in terms of the ages of stallions involved.”

A potential mating with Dubawi would produce a reverse of the cross seen in recent Classic winners Adayar (Ire) and Homeless Songs (Ire). While it is relatively early days for Frankel as a broodmare sire, daughters of his sire Galileo (Ire) have combined well with Dubawi, with notable examples of that cross being Horse of the Year Ghaiyyath (Ire) and 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder (Ire). 

Furthermore, Rausing's Lanwades Stud has also been represented as the breeder this year of St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB), a son of Dubawi who, like Alpinista, has the treble Group 1 winner Albanova (GB) (Alzao) as his grand-dam.

The 5-year-old Alpinista, a daughter of the Hernando (Fr) mare Alwilda (GB) and a fourth-generation Lanwades homebred, has won six consecutive Group 1 races for Rausing and Sir Mark Prescott. She will retire at the end of the year, though one final racecourse hurrah has not yet been ruled out.

“The plan for the spring is definitely the paddocks at Lanwades Stud because she will be a 6-year-old then,” Rausing told Nick Luck. “She will definitely retire at the end of the year. Whether she runs again, at this precise moment is not decided. There are only two opportunities for her, which would be the Japan Cup or the Breeders' Cup, and in fact I would say the firmer going in Japan would be attractive to us because she has always actually been particularly good on firm going, so from that point of view it was an even more admirable achievement on that very heavy ground in Paris.”

Rausing pointed to the long journey to Japan as a potential matter of concern, however. 

“I am pondering that at the moment,” she added. 

While stud plans for next year are to be confirmed, Rausing revealed that she has already decided to keep Alpinista at home at Lanwades for her 2024 mating with G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Study Of Man (Ire), the only son of Deep Impact (Jpn) at stud in Britain. 

“I can tell you that she is going to visit Study Of Man in 2024,” she said. “Study Of Man has his first-crop yearlings this year. We very much look forward to seeing his produce run as two- and three-year-olds in the next two years and I have great expectations for him.”

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Letter to the Editor: Kirsten Rausing

Winning the best race in the world, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, represents the pinnacle of most Thoroughbred breeders' ambitions. Achieving that unrealistic objective was beyond my wildest dreams when I set out on the path of breeding racehorses, now more than 50 years ago.

Now that my wonderful Alpinista (homebred at Lanwades for four generations) has triumphed on the world stage, scoring her tenth win, ninth stakes win and sixth Group 1 win on Sunday, I find myself overwhelmed by innumerable kind messages of congratulations from friends and colleagues all over the world.

Whilst I will of course endeavour to reply to all these in turn, this may well take some considerable time yet. Please may I therefore, through the TDN, express my heartfelt thanks to all who have sent such wonderful messages?

Obviously, my immense gratitude to all who made this wonderful achievement possible; our home team at Lanwades, St Simon and Staffordstown Studs; to Sir Mark Prescott, William Butler, Annabel Willis and the team at Heath House; to Luke Morris for his flawlessly executed ride at Longchamp – and, most of all, to that wonderful equine athlete herself: ALPINISTA. Thank you, all.

Kirsten Rausing
LANWADES STUD

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Kirsten Rausing on Alpinista: ‘There Were a Lot of Tears Shed’

On Sunday, Kirsten Rausing and Sir Mark Prescott achieved the impossible in uniting racing's participants in joy at the victory of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

For Prescott, Newmarket's longest-serving trainer now in his 53rd season with a licence, it was a moment that brought a tear to his eye as the witty one-liners for which he is famous gave way to pure emotion. For Rausing, too, who has painstakingly developed a broodmare band of significant international note over more than four decades at her Lanwades Stud, the five-year-old mare's resounding success at ParisLongchamp was a moment of extreme satisfaction. 

“It was a marvellous, marvellous day for all of us, and there is a big team that has achieved this, but it will still take some time to sink in,” said the owner-breeder on Monday morning as she continued to wade through messages of congratulation before turning her attention to the October Yearling Sale at Tattersalls. 

“Of course it was marvellous to see this crowning achievement of Sir Mark's fantastic career as well. We hardly needed a plane coming home,” she added of the man who has trained her homebreds for 35 years, including Alpinista's dam Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) and grand-dam, the treble Group 1 winner Albanova (GB) (Alzao).

Until Sunday, it would likely have been Albanova's full-sister, the dual Champion S. winner Alborada (GB), who held the top spot in Rausing's affections but the fellow grey mare, also trained by Prescott, will now be vying for that honour with her relation Alpinista, whose Arc victory was her sixth consecutive Group 1 win and ensured that she has remained unbeaten for two years. 

It would be hard to find anyone in the breeding business who can speak with more authority and depth of pedigree knowledge than the Swedish-born Rausing. Her association with Alpinista's family started in 1985 when she purchased her fourth dam Alruccaba (Ire) Crystal Palace {Fr}) from the Aga Khan in partnership with her great friend Sonia Rogers of Airlie Stud, where Rausing spent some of her formative years working in the bloodstock business. Needless to say, it was no accident that Rausing ended up with a mare who would go on to have such a profound influence on her broodmare band and is also the ancestress of this season's St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“When I was a schoolgirl my grandfather taught me about pedigrees,” she recalled. “We started with dairy cattle and gun dogs and then we proceeded to thoroughbred horses, of which he knew nothing but he was very interested in their pedigrees and [books such as] Sir Charles Leicester's Breeding a Racehorse. The hero of anyone interested in breeding was the old Aga Khan–Lady Josephine (GB), Mumtaz Mahal (GB) and all that–and so it was through study of the old books and these wonderful fillies that I always thought that this family was, to my understanding, the very best in the studbook.”

Mumtaz Mahal, a daughter of The Tetrarch (Ire) who was purchased as a yearling by Aga Khan III and who became known as the 'Flying Filly' for her extraordinary success on the track, became an even bigger influence at stud for her owner. Fittingly, in the year in which the Aga Khan Studs celebrates its centenary, Mumtaz Mahal appears as the tenth dam of Alpinista.

Rausing continued, “So I was a great admirer of Mumtaz Mahal and those that came after her, and it also helped that when I was a child the Swedish National Stud had a horse called Darbhanga (GB) and he was by Dastur (GB) out of Mumtaz Begum (Fr), so he was a half-brother to Nasrullah (GB). He was a year or two older than Nasrullah and had been second in the Triple Crown in England but being by Dastur nobody wanted him. Nasrullah's greatness had yet to appear, so the Swedish government was able to buy this horse just after the war in 1945 and he came to Sweden and was a great success, probably the best there ever was. In fact, Bull Hancock sent an emissary to Sweden in the 1950s with a blank cheque to buy Nasrullah's brother but the Swedish government said, 'Whom do you take us for, we are a socialist government, not horse wranglers.' In a way that was a pity because if the horse had gone to Kentucky he would have had much more influence of course.”

The first Classic winner bred by Rausing's grandfather was a Danish 1,000 Guineas winner by Darbhanga out of a mare by Abernant (GB), and was thus inbred to Mumtaz Mahal. 

“So that really focused my absolute concentration on this family since I was a schoolgirl,” said Rausing, who bought Ayesha (GB) from Madame Couturié in 1967 from a different branch of the family and bred from her Ayah, who was the second-best two-year-old filly in Ireland in 1975.

“She had the SWE suffix so that was quite an achievement,” Rausing said. “But she died quite early so I was always scouring the catalogues for anything from that family. If anything ever cropped up they were always way too expensive for me. “When I saw Alruccaba in the book as a winning two-year-old in the December Sales of 1985 I was of course mad keen. I went to see her surreptitiously before the sales and, very luckily for me, she had a distinct tendon on her near-fore. She'd been trained by Michael Stoute and at the time his assistant was James Fanshawe who later told me that they'd never had anything slower in the yard, so they were  delighted that she managed to win a maiden at Brighton.”

With Sonia Rogers, a plan was hatched to secure Alruccaba. 

Rausing explained, “Sonia valued her much higher than I did so we had a complicated arrangement that I would bid for her and we would split her up to a certain value, and then if she made more I would keep bidding but she would be 100% Sonia's. Luckily she made a lot less than we thought she would. I bought her for one bid at 19,000gns, her reserve having been 18,000. So Sonia and I owned her together and she spent two years at Lanwades and two years at Airlie, backwards and forwards, throughout her career.”

Alruccaba's offspring include the Sun Chariot S. winner Last Second (Ire) and fellow black-type winners Alleluia (GB), Alouette (GB), and Arrikala (Ire). Another of her daughters, Jude (GB) (Darshaan {GB}), has established her own significant branch of the family which includes the Classic winner Yesterday (Ire) (Sadler's Wells).

“Alruccaba has founded quite a dynasty and it has been helped by the fact that there seems to have been more fillies than colts,” said Rausing. 

There was extra satisfaction for the breeder in the success of Alpinista as she is out of a mare by the former Lanwades resident Hernando (Fr), who also featured as broodmare sire of Saturday's G1 Prix de Royallieu winner Sea La Rosa (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), bred by Guy Heald.

She said, “With the few opportunities numerically that Hernando had, like Selkirk, he is a significant damsire.”

For Alpinista, the paddocks of Lanwades will call her home for next season after four honourable years in training, in which she has to date won ten of her 15 starts.

“She's done enough, more than enough, and I am eternally grateful to her,” Rausing said. “Whether she runs again is a matter for Sir Mark. She gave us such an incredible day on Sunday and there were a lot of tears shed, even perhaps a few by the great man himself.”

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Arc Glory For Frankel’s Alpinista

Carried out in driving rain and accompanying gloom, Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe went to Kirsten Rausing's Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) who with her ever-whitening coat and mud-dappled white silks navigated what resembled a ploughed field like a trail of luminescence at ParisLongchamp.

Taking the eye throughout as she made easy work of the swiftly-deteriorating conditions under Luke Morris, who had been in action on the all-weather at Wolverhampton the night before, the 10-3 favourite waited with all the learned patience of such a beautifully-nurtured 5-year-old for the quartet in front to feel the pinch. As that inevitably happened, there followed a few glorious moments as she came to embody her owner-breeder's life's labour in this sphere and Sir Mark Prescott's unique art of equine education and care.

Although the homebred had arrived on the lead with Morris sitting motionless, her last 1 1/2 furlongs in front were not without tension as Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) chased her hard to the line along with last year's hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Despite the sterling efforts of The Aga Khan's Jockey Club and Eclipse hero and Auenquelle's German flagship, this was a result already carved into the precious stone that adorns Prescott's storied Heath House stables. At the line, the mare had bridged a surprising 85-year gap to the last of her age and sex to achieve glory in the famed Corrida, denying Vadeni by half a length and Torquator Tasso by a further neck.

“It's absolutely marvellous and an enormous relief,” Prescott said. “Luke has ridden for us for 11 years and Miss Rausing has had horses with me for 36, so I'm just very lucky. I trained her grandmother and it's hard to think of a better day. You felt she was always going to win, but it was a relief when she got there. It's a wonderful change to have one that can really go and she has been perfect. The race went like a dream. If it hadn't been my horse, I would have thought it was going to win every inch of the way, but when it's your own of course it's a nightmare. I didn't think all that rain would help, but she's never travelled better and has come on with each race.”

Morris added, “Things went lovely and smooth–I had all the confidence in her and she's not put a foot wrong. She is so versatile and so tough and I couldn't believe how well she was going–I had to take her back two out. She dug very deep for me and was very tough when I needed her. This is the pinnacle of my career–there are not many times when I'm teary-eyed, but I was having to hold back the tears today. Sir Mark's had an unbelievable effect on my career and is an unbelievable trainer and person, so I'm honoured to ride for him. Miss Rausing is a very generous lady with what she's done for the sport and I'm very fortunate.”

Alpinista, who started her career with a shot across the bows at Epsom in July 2019, skipped over ground officially described as firm when winning her first black-type race, Salisbury's Listed Upavon Fillies' S., the following August before chasing home Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) a week later in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Remarkably, her next start was her last defeat as Antonia De Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) mastered her in Newmarket's G3 Princess Royal S. a month later and even the biggest dreamer could not have predicted what was to follow.

Foot-perfect through the 2021 G2 Lancashire Oaks and the path of the Grosser Preis von Berlin-Preis von Europa-Grosser Preis Von Bayern Group 1 treble laid down by her second dam Albanova (GB) (Alzao), all reasoned knowledge accepted that the grey had probably used up all her career's fortune at that stage. Alpinista knew better, however, and her pursuit of a personal coronation among her incredible dynasty of Alruccaba (Ire) (Crystal Palace {Fr}) grew ever more impatient as she dashed several Arc hopes on her return in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Her next stop back in the Yorkshire Oaks could have been her apex, but now we know that was just a launchpad to this key moment.

While the Arc is no stranger to testing ground and autumnal framing, this edition was really something else with the turf and soil flying from an early stage and many visibly struggling before halfway. As expected, the Japanese wonder Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) was sent forward with Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) predictably on his case and after the first minute of action the order was settled. Rouget's Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) was well placed in third, with Alpinista tracking him and by the time they reached the false straight the conditions had truly separated the haves and the have-nots.

Surprisingly, Vadeni who carried perhaps the greatest stamina doubts into the race and who would arguably not been placed in the line-up had connections been able to foresee the amount of rain in the final minutes of the build-up was the one who came out of the pack with the most gusto. While his progress though the mud was hardly smooth, it was as dynamic as it gets in this kind of terrain and for a brief spell Alpinista looked vulnerable. Soumillon gave his all and Frankie managed to get Torquator Tasso close enough, but the grey had the stars aligned for her and her uncanny streak proved unbreakable.

She has now earned a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland in November, should connections wish it. The only remaining question is whether the Alpinista story is at an end and both Prescott and Rausing were non-committal afterwards. “Can she go on again? I don't know what Ms. Rausing will do,” the trainer said. There's the [G1] Japan Cup and the [GI] Breeders' Cup [Turf] to consider, so we'll see.”

Her owner-breeder added, “She will come back to our stud next year. As for the Breeders' Cup or the Japan Cup, we want to go home and talk about it.”

Vadeni fully justified the about-turn of connections to take part and Georges Rimaud commented, “We were very pleased with his run and we were obviously beaten by a very good opponent. Christophe had a good run through the whole race and thought he was going to win, but the mare found more. He's proved he stays the trip in soft ground, so we will go away and discuss what will happen in the next few days.”

Jean Claude Rouget said of the runner-up and of Al Hakeem, who clung on for fourth, “I am proud of my two horses–they ran great races, handled the ground and stayed well. It was a deep field with many possible winners and both finished in the first four so it is a very good day. They will come back stronger next year. I am very happy for Sir Mark Prescott–I've known him well for a long time and I just love this man.”

Dettori said of Torquator Tasso, “He finished really strong and ran a super race. The draw didn't help, but it's his style of racing to run on the outer. I thought for a moment I might get to them, but they were too strong for me.”

Ralph Beckett said of the sixth-placed Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), “He ran a good race, he had the perfect position alongside the winner and ran on well in the straight. He was struggling on the ground–you could see that. Hopefully he will come back stronger next year.”

Aidan O'Brien had some unwelcome news about Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who is back on the easy list after a gruelling experience. “Obviously he got stuck in the ground, he pulled a muscle off his near-hip and is sore enough now,” he explained. “Hopefully we can take him home, but he'll be sore for a while. It will heal in time and hopefully we can look forward to next season. I'd say that will almost certainly be it this season.”

Pedigree Notes

Alpinista, who was providing Frankel with his first Arc success, is the first foal out of the Listed Silbernes Band der Ruhr winner Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), whose 3-year-old filly Alpenblume (GB) (Kendargent {Fr}) was second at listed level at Hanover this term. Her aforementioned pathfinder dam Albanova is also responsible for the G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup winner Algometer (GB) (Archipenko), the Listed Stand Cup scorer and G3 Geoffrey Freer S.-placed Alignak (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and the triple French listed winner All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). In a twist of fate, the latter is in turn the dam of last month's G1 St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), making it another key period in the distinguished family's history.

The third dam is the Listed Oyster S. winner Alouette (GB) (Darshaan {GB}), who also produced Albanova's high-achieving full-sister Alborada (GB) who pulled off her own remarkable feat when capturing back-to-back editions of the G1 Champion S. when it was staged at Newmarket. Among her descendants are the G2 City Of York S. winner Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and G Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Albaflora (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}). This is also the family of Allegretto (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who had her own day in the headlines at this venue when winning the G1 Prix Royal-Oak, and the talented G2 Nassau S. winner Last Second (Ire) also by Alzao, who later produced the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains-winning sire Aussie Rules (Danehill). Alwilda's 2020 colt by Oasis Dream (GB) unfortunately died last year, while she also has a filly foal by Iffraaj {GB).

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX DE L'ARC DE TRIOMPHE-G1, €5,000,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-2, 3yo/up, c/f, 12fT, 2:35.71, vsf.
1–ALPINISTA (GB), 128, m, 5, by Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Alwilda (GB) (SW-Ger & SP-Eng), by Hernando (Fr)
2nd Dam: Albanova (GB), by Alzao
3rd Dam: Alouette (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
O/B-Kirsten Rausing (GB); T-Sir Mark Prescott; J-Luke Morris. €2,857,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Ger & G1SW-Eng, 15-10-2-0, €3,926,843. *1/2 to Alpenblume (GB) (Kendargent {Fr}), SP-Ger. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Vadeni (Fr), 125, c, 3, Churchill (Ire)–Vaderana (Fr), by Monsun (Ger). O-H H The Aga Khan; B-H H The Aga Khan's Studs SC (FR); T-Jean-Claude Rouget. €1,143,000.
3–Torquator Tasso (Ger), 132, h, 5, Adlerflug (Ger)–Tijuana (Ger), by Toylsome (GB). (€24,000 Ylg '18 BBAGO). O-Gestut Auenquelle; B-Paul H Vandeberg (GER); T-Marcel Weiss. €571,500.
Margins: HF, NK, 2. Odds: 3.40, 7.80, 8.10.
Also Ran: Al Hakeem (GB), Grand Glory (GB), Westover (GB), Luxembourg (Ire), Broome (Ire), Alenquer (Fr), Onesto (Ire), Titleholder (Jpn), Mendocino (Ger), Mishriff (Ire), Stay Foolish (Jpn), Mare Australis (Ire), Sealiway (Fr), Bubble Gift (Fr), Deep Bond (Jpn), Do Deuce (Jpn), Mostahdaf (Ire). Video, sponsored by TVG.

 

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