richard brown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Wathnan Outlines Team Plans, Led By Courage Mon Ami

Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will round out the 2023 season in the G1 Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend, confirmed Wathnan Racing's Richard Brown. Sixth in the G1 Goodwood Cup on Aug. 1, the 4-year-old found only Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) too good last time out in York's G2 Lonsdale Cup on Aug. 25.

“I thought he probably ran right up to form, as John [Gosden] said afterwards carrying the three pound penalty [for his Gold Cup win] is tough over that trip,” said Brown. “We were delighted with the run because it sort of showed that Ascot wasn't a fluke. We hoped it wasn't and Coltrane is a very good horse on his day–they're the best stayers around really.”

“Our horse was strong at the line, we know he gets two and a half miles obviously, and I'd say that the Cadran will be his next target.”

According to Brown, soft ground at ParisLongchamp remains a slight concern.

“I would be a bit worried about a bit of soft ground. You never know really until you try it, I think he'll be OK but you never know,” he said. “After the Cadran that will be it for him this year as everything is geared around trying to win a second Gold Cup.”

Fellow Wathnan runner Ballymount Boy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}), who was purchased by the operation following a second-place effort in Goodwood's G2 Richmond S. on Aug. 3, held the same spot once again last time in the Aug. 23 G3 Acomb S. at York.

“I was actually delighted. He obviously bumped into one at Goodwood and I'd say there's a fair chance he's just bumped into another good one at York,” said Brown of the Adrian Paul Keatley trainee.

“He ran well, possibly he'd prefer soft ground and also he was a breeze-up horse who has had some quick runs. We're going to give him a bit of a rest and give him just one more run this year, I would say. He's shown he's a group level colt and I think he'll only be better next year as well as he's still relatively unfurnished.”

Brown also indicated that stable runner multiple group winner Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) is likely for a break as well following a fourth behind winner Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Aug. 26 G2 City of York S.

Earlier this spring, he was runner-up in the G1 French 2000 Guineas in May, subsequently fourth in the June 10 G1 St James's Palace S. before finishing second to Kinross in Goodwood's G2 Lennox S. Aug. 1.

“It's the quickest we've run him back [between the Lennox and the City of York] and I wonder if he was a touch flat,” Brown surmised. “Kinross is a brilliant horse, and we were a bit farther behind him than we were at Goodwood, which I suppose makes you think he was just a touch flat.”

He concluded, “We haven't made any plans for him. Myself, Brian [Meehan] and Olly Tait will sit down and do that in a couple of weeks, but I'd imagine we'll give him a six-week break now and give him one more run somewhere.”

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Gregory Seeks Redemption in St Leger

Wathnan Racing's Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}), victorious in the G2 Queen's Vase S. at Royal Ascot in June, will attempt to return to his winning ways in the Sept. 16 G1 Betfred St Leger. Undefeated heading into the Royal meeting, the 3-year-old finished third as the favorite in York's G2 Great Voltigeur S. Aug. 23.

Wathnan Racing advisor Richard Brown said, “We said after Ascot that his main target would be the Leger and that [the Great Voltigeur] was the obvious race to take en route. We'd love to have won it, but they went pretty hard up front–those early fractions were pretty fierce. We were initially disappointed, but then you see where the two horses that went with him finished and where he finished. Frankie [Dettori] looked after him when his winning chance had gone and actually when he stood up on him, the horse ran on again on his own.”

Looking ahead, he added, “Back up to a mile and six [furlongs] in the Leger is going to be much more his game. I've been in racing long enough not to be overly optimistic as things go wrong and maybe he's not good enough, but I think he's going to go there with a big chance.”

Gregory is the 3-1 market leader for the Leger with Paddy Power, with his York conqueror Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) a 4-1 shot and Desert Hero (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who carries the colours of the King and Queen, next in line at 11-2.

Brown said, “He's come out of the race in great shape, John and Thady [Gosden] are very happy with him, it's all systems go and we're looking forward to it.”

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Holding Out For a Hero

ASCOT, UK–Even before the action was underway on Gold Cup day, there appeared to be entertainment aplenty for the King and Queen. Sir Mark Prescott had managed to book the royal version of speedy boarding and was positioned in the first carriage with their majesties for the royal procession. This may well have been a strategic move from them in the middle of a week which requires plenty of stamina, with two processions still to come. It's a long ride by horse-drawn carriage from Windsor Great Park to Ascot Racecourse and who better to entertain the royal party than racing's finest raconteur, who also shares the King and Queen's love of hunting? Indeed, as the carriages came into view on the big screen it certainly appeared to be Sir Mark that was holding court, much to the obvious enjoyment of his carriage companions.

William Haggas had been in the royal procession on Wednesday and he put his name back on the invitation list for next year by becoming the first trainer to provide the King and Queen with a winner at Royal Ascot in the King George V S., named after the present monarch's great grandfather.

Bred by the late Queen, Desert Hero (GB) hails from a family which has been well represented at the royal meeting in recent years. His dam Desert Breeze (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a full-sister to the G2 Hardwicke S. winner Dartmouth (GB), who appeared at Royal Ascot in three consecutive years, and both siblings were gifted to the Queen by their breeder Sheikh Mohammed.

The 'new Ascot', as old-timers still like to call it, can feel a little devoid of atmosphere on occasion, even on the big occasion, but not so for a royal winner. Every step, every balcony and every tier was stuffed with racegoers cheering in Desert Hero and Tom Marquand, as the King and Queen, accompanied by the Princess Royal and her daughter Zara Tindall, arrived in the winner's enclosure.

“This is what it's all about for us, and when you are given the privilege of training some horses for the late Queen and The King and Queen, it's an honour,” said Haggas.

“They have been looking forward to Royal Ascot for a long time and they hoped to have as many runners as possible. I think they will be absolutely delighted. It's very important for horseracing, but it's also important that the King and Queen enjoy it, which they clearly appear to do. Long may that continue.”

It didn't take long, however, for the King to have his thunder stolen by the upstager-in-chief, Lanfranco Dettori. With the quality of horses on offer from Wathnan Racing, the breakthrough owners on the scene who have made quite a splash this week, Dettori will certainly be enjoying this new, albeit brief, association.

Wathnan Racing is the operational name for the horses owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose brother Sheikh Joaan is already a familiar face on the international racing scene as the principal of Al Shaqab Racing and owner of Haras de Bouquetot.

First, Gregory (GB) gave the team the Queen's Vase, only for Courage Mon Ami (GB) to plunder an even bigger prize 24 hours later after an epic stretch battle with the plucky Coltrane (Ire) in the Gold Cup. What these hugely exciting emerging stayers have in common, as well as being trained by John and Thady Gosden, is that their Royal Ascot victories were both their first runs in the colours of Wathnan Racing.

Courage Mon Ami was bred and raced until recently by Anthony Oppenheimer of Hascombe and Valiant Studs, who was also the breeder of Gregory's sire Golden Horn (GB). Gregory represents Philippa Cooper's Normandie Stud and a family which has been replete with quality stayers over the years. While the latter has the target of the St Leger, the four-year-old Courage Mon Ami, similarly unbeaten, has announced his presence at the top of the staying division having arrived in the Gold Cup straight from a Goodwood handicap. This he won a day after Gregory landed the Cocked Hat Stakes at the same course.

“It's a wonderful day for Hascombe and Valiant,” said Oppenheimer as he congratulated the horse's new connections by the winner's circle.

“We're very pleased. We've got plenty of the family. We very nearly retired him before he ran because he was so big, but he had those two fantastic races last year when he won by about ten lengths.”

As Oppenheimer watched the presentation, made by the King to Courage Mon Ami's new owners, he was joined by Jayne McGivern, who now owns Golden Horn, having bought him last year to stand at Overbury Stud, where he has covered 184 mares this season.

“Your horse is doing very well!” Oppenheimer said to McGivern with a grin. “I'm very pleased with Golden Horn, he's doing much better than ever before. I have a couple of really nice horses by him coming up.”

While Courage Mon Ami's victory means that the extraordinary Frankel (GB) has been represented by a Group 1 winner on every day of Royal Ascot so far, from a mile to two and a half miles, it cannot be overlooked that Oppenheimer has enjoyed great success in the past with another of his sons, Cracksman (GB). Now a Darley second-season stallion, Cracksman is responsible for one of the most exciting three-year-old colts of the season in the Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Fr).

Olly Tait of Australia's Twin Hills Stud and his old friend Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock have been charged with the advising and buying duties for the Qatari-based Wathnan Racing, and both have passed with flying colours in delivering on their brief.

“I was asked to buy some proper horses who could go to the big meetings and compete in the big races, and this is as big as it gets,” said Brown. “Olly is the advisor for Wathnan Racing, which was the leading stable in Qatar over the winter. He approached me and said that they were interested in buying a few horses. I obviously jumped at the opportunity. I've know Olly for 25 years. We actually lived next to each other in Newmarket when we first there in about 1998. The opportunity to work with him was extraordinary. We haven't bought very many, we've been very selective, but there are a couple more to come out.”

There is just one part of the brief that Tait and Brown may struggle to adhere to if the current level of success continues.

Brown added, “The owners want to be under the radar slightly, though I think the last two days has just blown that apart, but they are private people. It was just a case of getting started with a few horses and this has been a dream start.”

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Brown On The Search For Next Perfect Power At Goffs UK

Top bloodstock agent Richard Brown has done his bit to alleviate any stresses vendors may have been feeling on the eve of the Doncaster Breeze Up Sale by explaining that he will be using a raft of metrics other than just times in an effort to find the next Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) at this year's sale.

Monday's breeze took place on testing ground, with some two-year-olds handling it better than most, which will all be taken into account by the buying bench, according to Blandford Bloodstock's ace scout.

As if to remind the strike-rate Blandford Bloodstock has enjoyed at this sale in recent years, posters of previous purchases Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), last year's Coventry S. hero, and the multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Perfect Power, hang proud either side of the rostrum.

Describing what that sight meant to the team of international bloodstock agents upon arriving at the sale ground, Brown said, “It was epic. We left Newmarket at five o'clock on Sunday morning for the practice breeze and, when we walked into the ring, it was very cool to see Bradsell and Perfect Power either side of the rostrum. They are two really good horses who have come out of this ring. This place has been very lucky for us in the past. I watched Perfect Power's breeze over the weekend just to refresh the memory for what we are looking for so fingers crossed we can find another one.”

Perfect Power | Scoop Dyga

He added on the conditions, “It's very soft ground. I actually thought that times came into it less than ever at the Craven Sale. The fastest horses in the breeze are very often not the best horses to come out of the sale. There are so many different things that go into the melting pot.

“The great thing about the breeze-up sales is that lots of people use different methods to buy horses out of these sales. There are so many purchasers using different methods that it provides a great spread to the buying bench and that bore out last week. There were plenty of horses who did very little in terms of time at the Craven and they still made plenty of money.”

In searching for the next star, Brown explained that the Blandford team marries up many strands of information and evidence before playing on certain horses.

He said, “If you went to the breeze-up sales and just went by the timesheet and bought the fastest horses, you really would spend a lot of money and do very badly.

“Time is a factor but there are a lot of other factors to it as well–the style of the breeze, the horse's action and its attitude. The horse's attitude is something we place a huge amount of emphasis on as the whole process is a massive test.”

He added, “On top of all that, you've still got to like the horse physically. There are plenty of horses who breeze well and, if I don't like the look of them, I won't buy them. I'm not just going to buy an ugly horse who does a fast time.

“But it usually adds up. When a horse breezes well, moves well and shows some speed at some point in the breeze, you usually look at the horse and say, 'yea, I get it.'”

Brown, who was crowned Bloodstock Agent Of The Year for the second year running in 2022, bought four horses at last week's Craven Sale at Tattersalls from 65,000gns to 350,000gns and a total spend of just under 1 million gns.

He labelled himself as pleasantly surprised by the buoyancy of the first domestic breeze-up sale of the year, especially in terms of the clearance rate, and predicted the top end to remain strong this week at Goffs UK.

Brown said, “I have some clients who want colts, some people looking for fillies only, others looking to get going–in terms of that they are looking for sharp two-year-olds–and I also have orders for back-end horses as well. I wouldn't say the brief changes from sale to sale, because different types can come from any sale, and actually, Light Infantry (Fr) (Fast Company {Ire}), who came from this sale and got as close to Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as anything in the Jacques le Marois, can do something big up here this year before going back to Australia. He wasn't in any way a whizz bang horse and, in actual fact, is getting better with every run.

“Obviously Donny has set its stall out to be a good source of two-year-olds and we expect to see those but that doesn't mean that if a nice big and backward horse comes up there, that we don't have orders for those types as well.”

He added, “The top is very strong and I imagine that will continue to be the same. I actually thought that the clearance rates were better than I was expecting them to be at the Craven and that the market was pretty buoyant. I bought four horses but got beaten on more than that in the middle market and at the top end as well.”

One consignor facing into the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale off the back of a productive Craven Sale is Cormac Farrell. Consigning under the banner of C.F. Bloodstock for the first year, Farrell sold three horses for just over 500,000gns at Tattersalls and is hoping to keep the momentum going this week.

“The Craven was amazing,” Farrell started. “They were all very professional and it was a great sale. I have to say, the results were down to a team effort and everyone plays a role. Rory Cleary is a huge help to us, in fairness. He's a top-class judge and a great horseman. Rory broke most of our horses and rode them all work so it wouldn't have been possible without him.”

Farrell's Footstepsinthesand (GB) colt [lot 80] clocked particularly well given the conditions and makes up a three-pronged draft for the Curragh handler who has also achieved some notable success selling point-to-point horses.

He said, “The Footstepsinthesand colt cost 20,000gns here at the Premier Yearling Sale and, from day one, he has been very straightforward. We were expecting him to breeze well so we are delighted. Visually, it looked very good and I have since heard that it is up there with some of the fastest times. Regardless of the time, though, I have no doubt that he is going to go on and be a good horse. Hopefully we have a good sale and get them all sold and to good homes. That's important because you need to get a name for selling nice horses.”

The sale kicks off at 10am on Tuesday where 191 horses will go under the hammer at a sale that has produced seven Royal Ascot winners in as many years.

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