Mutasaabeq: So Good They Named Him Twice

Transatlantic travellers will have to mind their suffixes when the first foals and yearlings of Mutasaabeq start appearing. 'Our' Mutasaabeq – note his (GB) suffix – is a son of the Irish National Stud's long-serving and influential Invincible Sprit (Ire) and has just retired to the National Stud in Newmarket.

In America, the other Mutasaabeq of the same vintage was bought by Shadwell for $425,000 and is by Into Mischief. Winner of the GII Bourbon S. and placed in the GI Hopeful S., he is about to embark on his first season at stud at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Florida. 

But let's return to Shadwell's homebred Mutasaabeq (GB). His seven wins, including three Group 2s, from 17 starts tell of an honourable racing career for Charlie Hills. Not one at the absolute highest echelon, but admirable and consistent nonetheless, conducted over four seasons, during which he showed a distinctive love of Newmarket's Rowley Mile. Perhaps that was ingrained in his DNA, because Mutasaabeq is out of the record-breaking 1,000 Guineas winner Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway). Her half-sister Rumoush (Rahy) won the Listed Feilden S. at the track before running third in the Oaks, and half-brother Mawatheeq (Danzig) was beaten only half a length by Twice Over (GB) in the G1 Champion S. when it was still run at its rightful home of Newmarket.

It doesn't stop there, of course, because this is Shadwell's signature family, which blossomed for Sheikh Hamdan after his purchase of Ghanaati's granddam Height Of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino {GB}) from the late Queen more than 40 years ago. 

Height Of Fashion's celebrated offspring include the stallions Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef, as well as Ghanaati's dam Sarayir (Mr Prospector), who also had a fondness for the Rowley Mile, where she won the Oh So Sharp S. Go back another generation from the multiple group winner Height Of Fashion and you find another 1,000 Guineas winner, Queen Elizabeth II's Highclere (GB) (Queen's Hussar {GB}). There is yet another one, King George VI's Hypericum (GB) (Hyperion {GB}), two generations back again. 

Recent recruits to the global stallions ranks who share this family are the brothers Baaeed (GB) and Hukum (Ire). In short, Mutasaabeq is regally bred in every sense of the word.

Mutasaabeq was raced by Shadwell, so we're very grateful to Sheikha Hissa to be able to have the opportunity to purchase a horse of his calibre,” says the National Stud's head of bloodstock Joe Bradley. “He was incredibly well performed, has a sensational pedigree, and for us, placing him at the right price point was was key to everything.”

That price is £6,500, and Mutasaabeq joins the stud at a time when expectations are high. Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), who had 40 of first foals sell for an average just shy of £22,000, roughly two and a half times his fee, has his first yearlings on show next year, while the first foals of Stradivarius (Ire) will start to appear from next month.

 

Mutasaabeq, who is rising six, did all of his racing between 7f and 8.5f, winning his only start at two – at Newmarket, where else? – and then landing a conditions race on his three-year-old debut before bouncing straight into the 2,000 Guineas, in which he finished midfield. His four-year-old season was speckled with group placings until he landed the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Joel S., a race he returned to win this year for the second time, having kicked off his final season in training with victory over Goldolphin's Classic winner Native Trail (GB) in the G2 Bet365 Mile.

Bradley says, “I think his record really speaks volumes for the horse. Invincible Spirit is such a sensational stallion that gets plenty of two-year-old winners. But really, I think if you look at profiles of his progeny, they always train on and that's vital to what we're doing here, and to the industry as a whole, to have that longevity. “He was a two-year-old winner who really came to the fore as an older horse. At four in the Joel Stakes, he made all that day, which became a trend in his races this year. On a seasonal debut in the Bet365 Mile Group, he beat Group 1 performers that day by three lengths. That was a sensational performance, if you look back on it. 

“And to be able to finish his racing career with a group victory is something that that really stood out to us. His highest rating this year is 120, so he's really proved that he's one of the best colts of his generation.”

The National Studs of England and Ireland are both more than just stallion and boarding farms. Both are centres of excellence when it comes to providing tailored education for those wanting to work in the bloodstock industry. In Newmarket, the training courses have been reimagined of late in order to adapt to changing working practices.  That includes a shift in the calendar for the 'Level 3' Stud Management and Sales Consigning course, which takes place over 26 weeks.

Anna Kerr, the chief executive officer of the National Stud, explains, “One of the biggest shifts in the last 18 to 24 months has been that we are consciously trying to make the education programme more flexible for people, because we are living in a world where there is a requirement to be more flexible. Previously our diploma students were leaving in June and would be going straight to the yearling prep and quite a few of them wouldn't have had done yearling prep before coming to us, which is quite a crucial part of the handling. So we moved the start date of the course forward to mid-September and it now runs to mid-April. The students come in, their learning curve is quite steep, but we always see that when students immerse themselves in the environment, they learn so quickly.”

She continues, “They all did paid work placements at the yearling sales or foal sales this year. Some employers were a bit nervous initially, but once they saw the calibre and the the standard that they were bringing, they were in very high demand then for December. A couple of them got offers to go to Goffs as well.

“The feedback has been really positive. When the students come in, they're not just mucking out for six months, they're immersed in that whole excitement of the sales season and seeing what the end product is and then going on and really having their skills honed during the breeding season. We're really pleased with how it's going thus far.”

There is even greater flexibility in the eight-week 'Level 2' Entry to Stud Employment Course, run in conjunction with the TBA, and after which students are guaranteed a paid placement with a stud over six to nine months.

“With Level 2, there isn't a dedicated start date for that in the same way that there was previously,” says Kerr. “So people can come in to that course any time. Again, that's working well. It's just so that if someone comes to us and wants to enrol in something you're not saying, 'Okay, that's great, come back to us in October.' You're actually saying, 'Yeah, you can start tomorrow.' We can get them in and get them going quite quickly.

“They work alongside the stud team, and there'll always be about three or four students at a time. When we had big groups of 15 to 20 coming through the attrition rate was high, but once you can get them through the training, the retention is very solid within industry. It's about 81% retention for the last five years of our graduates.”

She adds, “And all the qualifications are deliverable in the workplace. If there are employers who want to upskill their workforce, they can register with us and the training can be delivered in the workplace so they don't have to lose their staff to a residential course.

“We need people and we need to develop the workplace culture so that they're being looked after in the right way.”

Another new venture for the National Stud, or rather a return to previous ways, is its investment in a select number of broodmares. 

“We want to be supporting our own stallions,”says Kerr, who recently bought the Le Havre (Ire) mare Sacred Valley (Fr) for the National Stud at Goffs for €52,000.

“We feel that we not only need to support our stallions, but we also need to be British breeders. They're not only our customers, but also our community. And with the number of British breeders contracting, we think it's ever more important that the National Stud is helping. We need active breeders.

“Last year we bought four and a half new mares, one in partnership with MyRacehorse.com. Our plan is just that each year we would buy at least one mare to support our stallions. Sacred Valley is in foal to Saxon Warrior and she'll be going to Mutasaabeq.”

The aforementioned mare owned in partnership with MyRacehorse is Blackbird Power (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who is one of the 120 mares in the first book of Stradivarius. 

“She's carrying a colt and she's due reasonably early. We should have three Stradivarius foals at the stud so we're extremely excited by that,” Kerr notes. 

The collective excitement building up to Blackbird Power's first foal is likely to be greater than any other imminent arrival in the country as there are 1,000 micro shareholders involved in the mare.

“The last Saturday of every month we have a My Racehorse tour. Joe does them and he loves it,” says Kerr.

Joe is likely to be very busy indeed when 1,000 owners are clamouring to see the mare's Stradivarius foal in January, but what a fantastic way to spread the excitement of breeding racehorses. 

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Rajasinghe: ‘A Few People Have Cottoned On To The Stats’

Everybody loves a bargain, especially in January in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. The latter may barely have affected the bloodstock sales so far, but a knock-on effect may be felt if smaller or syndicate owners start to reduce their racing investment, which in turn would surely have a bearing eventually on the lower end of the yearling market. The top tier generally takes care of itself, while the middle market has been given a great boost by increased international participation, though that in itself is not necessarily a great boost for the long-term health of racing and breeding in Britain and Ireland.

Breeders with mating plans still to be decided, and who may be wincing at some of the stallion fees advertised, could do worse than adding the name of Rajasinghe (Ire) to their list of sires under consideration.

We talked to Rajasinghe's owner Phil Cunningham back in April just ahead of the son of Choisir (Aus) being represented by his first runner, Talamanca (GB). That Mickley Stud-bred gelding has now run 11 times for three wins and is the most prolific of his sire's runners. As noted by Brian Sheerin when assessing the last year's freshman sires in Saturday's TDN, the group numbers only 10 to date, but remarkably eight of them won races in 2022, and three achieved an official rating of 80+, headed by the listed-placed Waiting All Night (GB), a Cunningham homebred.

Last spring, Cunningham told TDN: “He's had limited numbers and limited support so I think we've got to do it the hard way, which is to do it ourselves.

“We've got a nice little crop this year, some more next year and a few more the following year. Hopefully he will become more popular with everyone else by then and he'll have a few more runners.”

Doubtless the owner-breeder is delighted with the start made by his stallion, who, like Cunningham's dual Classic winner Cockney Rebel (Ire) before him, is standing at the National Stud. The Newmarket farm is sure to have plenty of visitors this spring, with Stradivarius (Ire) still exerting plenty of pulling power and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) likely to be busy again. But those visiting should not ignore the well-made son of the late Choisir, who was a very good stallion in his own right and whose prowess continues to be so well advertised by his Irish-based son Starspangledbanner (Aus).

It doesn't necessarily follow that Rajasinghe will be similarly successful, and of course he will need to build on that 80% strike-rate with some proper stakes horses if he is to take his career to the next level, but he has dropped enough hints during the last year that he can get your mare a runner if given the chance.

So far, outside the backing of his owner, he hasn't been given many opportunities. He had 24 foals in his first crop, 14 in his second, which are the juveniles for this coming season, and 26 born in 2022. Only once has he covered a black-type winner, and in his most recent season he is listed with Weatherbys as having covered just nine mares, mostly owned by the Cunningham family. One of the outside breeders, Morecool Racing, will be pleased to have supported him again this year as, since they sent New Road Side (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) back to be covered, her Rajasinghe son Hougoumont (GB) has won two of his four starts for Julie Camacho.

The majority of the stallion's offspring of racing age are in the stable of Richard Spencer, the retained trainer for Cunningham's Rebel Racing and for whom Rajasinghe was a breakout star when winning the G2 Coventry S. in 2017 in Spencer's second season with a licence.

The Newmarket trainer admits with a smile that he is of course biased, but he is also well placed to have a handle on plenty of Rajasinghe's runners so far. He says, “He's basically stamped his offspring very much like himself. He was very laid-back. He thrived on his work and was very easy in himself and had a great attitude with everything he did.

“From the mares that have been sent to him, and this is no disrespect to any of them, they weren't the best mares that you could have asked for, but he has definitely upgraded them judging on progeny they've produced in the past. Their attitudes are great, wind great, and for what is on offer for breeders at that level in England, you can't really find anything much better, I don't think, on the market.”

Spencer continues, “I know I'm probably biased, but we've had such great success this season from the horses that have run, and everything has won or been placed. The ones that have been placed that haven't won will win. And the ones we haven't run, for various little reasons, that will run in this year coming have all got ability to win races. There's not one amongst them you think, 'Oh God, we're not going to win with him.'

“They are all capable of winning, from relatively low-grade mares, and they've got size and scope. I think a few people have cottoned on to the stats, but I think [his offspring] are value for money and real 'trainers' horses' at the moment, whilst they're able to be bought.”

Spencer has had a fresh intake of horses who have just turned two and says that better results could be seen this year.

“I genuinely think the ones we've got coming through are a better quality again. Phil had some some fillies with decent ratings that have gone to stud to support him and I think in the next couple of years we'll see even better quality coming through,” he notes.

“So it's exciting from our side of things, seeing it behind the scenes with what we've got to come, and with the GBB scheme running as well now, which is fantastic, it's a big incentive to be sending a mare to a British stallion.”

Rajasinghe was 15th overall in the first-crop sires' table for Britain and Ireland on prize-money. When judged by number of individual winners, he achieved a top-10 finish with far fewer runners than any of his rivals in that top echelon–and of course on his percentage of winners to runners he was best of all at 80%.

For a stallion standing right down the bottom of the fee table at £3,000, a strike-rate at the top of the table should perhaps open a few eyes, hopefully followed by a few wallets.

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National Stud and MyRacehorse Team Up in Stradivarius Breeding Syndicate

The micro-share syndicate MyRacehorse is branching into the world of breeding  with a syndicate involving star stayer Stradivarius (Ire) and in partnership with the National Stud.

Through the latter the group purchased the Dark Angel (Ire) three-year-old Blackbird Power (GB) at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. A six-furlong winner for Andrew Balding, she will be sent to Stradivarius next season, with shares of both the mare and her resulting foal will be sold before both are reoffered at the Breeding Stock Sale at the end of 2024.

“When The National Stud approached us with this idea, we knew we had to be a part of it,” said Jules Pittam, a managing partner of MyRacehorse in the UK and Ireland.

We promise our owners top racehorses and unique experiences, and you really can't beat owning one of the first foals by the phenomenal Stradivarius. Add in the fact that owners will have ample opportunity to visit The National Stud and see not only their foal, but Stradivarius as well, and you have a real once-in-lifetime opportunity.”

The National Stud's CEO Anna Kerr added, “Our partnership with MyRacehorse gives racing fans an opportunity to experience horse racing ownership in a totally different way. Stradivarius is a modern racing icon, and the opportunity to be a part of his stud career will enable those involved to build a deep connection with one of the most popular Flat horses in recent memory. We are looking forward to welcoming owners to the next chapter of Stradivarius's story and look forward to this syndicate providing MyRacehorse owners with a truly unique experience.”

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Staying Superstar Stradivarius Retired To Stud

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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