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Oxx Reflects On His Best

One day after announcing his retirement from training, John Oxx opened up about the decision to Sky Sports Racing and reflected on a few of the best he has handled.

“It’s not something you decide to do overnight–it’s been on our mind for a few years,” Oxx said. “Now seems the right time as we don’t really have enough horses to justify keeping going. It was a pretty easy decision to make as you have to have a viable business.

“Trainers love to keep going, of course–we like what we do. We probably all keep going longer than we should, but it was pretty clear to us now is the right time to stop. I had a big stable at one stage and we did well, but stables are getting bigger and bigger now, which does make life harder for other trainers and smaller trainers.”

Sea The Stars (Ire) was not only the greatest Oxx ever trained, but one of the best of all time.

“I was always happy to say he was one of the greats and that’s good enough for me,” Oxx said. “He is certainly one of the best ever on ratings–he was an incredible horse. I suppose the thing about Sea The Stars is you only ever saw 75 or 80% of what was in the tank. He always won comfortably and had plenty of gas left as he didn’t exert himself too hard. He’s one of those great horses that only comes along now and then–in a 100-year period you don’t see many horses like him and Frankel and Mill Reef and Nijinsky.”

Sea The Stars went a perfect six-for-six at three, all at Group 1 level, including the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Derby and culminating in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“It was a terrific achievement for the horse, he had this tremendous energy and tremendous soundness and will to win. He had all the attributes you wanted,” said Oxx. “You couldn’t take on that sort of programme with every horse, but we knew this fellow had that unique constitution and would be able to do it if we didn’t have any bad luck with ground or an injury along the way. We knew he had the capability to do it and we wanted him to prove himself one of the greats. It’s no good talking about it, saying a horse is this good or that good, they have to go out and win. To finish up and pull it off in the Arc was fantastic and such a relief for us to get him there and have him fulfil his destiny.”

Sea The Stars pulled off the Arc/Derby double nine years after Oxx had accomplished it for the first time with Sinndar (Ire), who also took the G1 Irish Derby that season.

“He was a great horse,” Oxx said. “I thought coming into his 3-year-old season he might be a horse who would be placed in the Derby, but as soon as he ran his first race I knew there was a lot more there than was evident at home.

“He was a beautiful horse with a wonderful temperament and as tough as nails. Every time he ran he was five pounds better than the previous time and he just got sharper as he went through his 3-year-old year and stronger.

“Your grandmother would have ridden him out early in the year, but by the time it came to the Arc, you just had to watch him as he’d throw a jump and a kick–he wasn’t anybody’s ride in the end. He got stronger and more aggressive and more confident. That’s the way with those great horses, they’re never finished.”

The best filly to pass through Oxx’s hands was the globetrotting Ridgewood Pearl (GB), who won Group 1s in four countries.

“She was a really strong filly–masculine-looking with a terrific temperament,” Oxx recalled. “She was very consistent and always the same in her work and ate all her feed–she was a bit of a machine really. Sometimes those fillies that are very good– you’ve seen it with Enable recently–they’re just very tough and consistent and once they like racing they keep liking it. Ridgewood Pearl would go on any ground and nothing stopped her. She was a pleasure to train.”

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Camilleri’s Kingman Colt Leads The Way

NEWMARKET, UK—On a day when Kingman (GB) was given the ultimate boost by being announced as the first suitor of Enable (GB), one of his sons played a leading role in the first session of Tattersalls October Book 2, following on from some notable returns during last week’s Book 1.

Godolphin has already had its share of success with the progeny of Kingman, notably through Group 1-winning colts Persian King (Ire) and Palace Pier (GB), and Anthony Stroud added another by the sire to Sheikh Mohammed’s string for next year when outbidding Joseph O’Brien at 400,000gns for lot 576.

The son of the 8-year-old Rip Van Winkle (Ire) mare Allez Y (Ire) was bred by Australian John Camilleri, best known in the racing world as the breeder of superstar Winx (Aus), and was offered on his behalf by Harry McCalmont’s Norelands Stud.

“He is a well-balanced horse, he moves well and we have had a lot of luck with Kingman,” said Stroud. “He is from Norelands, who do such a good job, and he will go to France to be trained by Andre Fabre.”

McCalmont added that Allez Y has been covered by Lope De Vega (Ire) to southern hemisphere time and will soon be joining Camilleri’s broodmare band in Australia.

“I am delighted I have sold a good horse for him, very happy,” said McCalmont.

Allez Y is a daughter of the champion race filly L’Ancresse (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) and a half-sister to the Lloyd Williams-owned Master Of Reality (Ire), one of four Joseph O’Brien-trained horses to have arrived in Australia recently to contest the Melbourne Cup in November.

The trade in Book 1, though reduced, was highly encouraging in the current circumstances and the same can certainly be said for the first of three Book 2 sessions. The clearance rate rose three points to 85% as 216 of the 255 yearlings offered found a buyer. The average dipped by 10% to 70,539gns and the median by 5% to 52,000gns. The day’s aggregate of 15,236,500gns was down by just 5%.

D-Day For Churchill Filly
The first book of dual Classic winner Churchill (Ire) included a mare of rare appeal. Date With Destiny (Ire), the sole offspring of the ill-fated George Washington (Ire), earned some small black type herself when third in the Lingfield Oaks Trial and her subsequent mating with Galileo (Ire) produced the G3 Royal Whip S winner Beautiful Morning (GB).

Newsells Park Stud sent the 12-year-old mare back to Coolmore to visit Galileo’s son Churchill and were rewarded with 350,000gns for the resultant yearling (lot 718). The filly was signed for by Anthony Stroud.

Date With Destiny raced in the colours of Julie Wood and was bought as a 3-year-old for 185,000gns by Newsells Park Stud, who also owned her half-sister Flawly (GB) (Old Vic {GB}).

“We’d had some luck with the family before,” said stud manager Julian Dollar. “Flawly was one of the first mares we bought and she produced [Group 3 winer and Classic-placed] Best Name (GB). We were very fond of the family so when the opportunity came to buy a bit more of it, we came in with her.”

He added, “The Churchill was an interesting mating going back to something familiar but to put in a bit more speed and precocity. The mare was herself quite precocious.”

Churchill has 21 yearlings catalogued in Book 2 and the seven offered on Monday were all sold for an average of 80,571gns.

Model Start For Delevigne
Model Queen ((Kingmambo) has already heaped reflected glory on Highclere Stud, notably through her July Cup-winning son Regal Parade (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), and the baton passed to another of her offspring on Monday at Tattersalls. The 5-year-old mare Delevigne (GB) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) may have retired to the paddocks unraced but her first foal became one of the most expensive fillies of the day when bought by Alastair Donald for 350,000gns.

The Dark Angel (Ire) filly will join the King Power racing team, which enjoyed a stellar Saturday on the Rowley Mile with a hat-trick of Group wins on Future Champions Day.

Donald said of lot 722, “I loved her. She was my favourite filly in the sale. We stretched bit to get her, everyone was on her. She walks for fun and it is a lovely family to be involved with.”

David Redvers had eyes for another daughter of Dark Angel and jumped in when the bidding reached 360,000gns for lot 767, the sister to German listed winner Dark Liberty (Ire). The agent was pushed to 390,000gns to secure her for Qatar Racing.

“She’s one for the long term, for our breeding plan. She looked all speed, a little cracker,” he said of the Yeomanstown Stud-bred filly whose half-sister Queen Of Love (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) won the listed Prix Coronation at Saint-Cloud after the publication of the catalogue.

Mehmas Success Story Continues
The popularity of Tally-Ho Stud’s young stallion Mehmas (Ire) has grown with each winner he has notched this season, and he now leads the first-crop sires of Europe with 35 individual winners to his credit, including the G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire).

Another milestone was passed on Monday when lot 600, a half-brother to the stakes-placed Ziarah (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), became his most expensive yearling at 320,000gns.

The colt, who is out of the unraced Ashtown Girl (Ire), an Exceed And Excel (Aus) half-sister to classy sprinter Hot Streak (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), was signed for by Tom Goff, who was standing between John Gosden and Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing.

“I think we can say that Mehmas has been something of a revelation,” said Goff. “Some people wrote him off as cheap speed but he has defied that. My brief was to buy a colt who would make a sharp 2-year-old and this is a lovely colt out of an Exceed And Excel mare. He will go to John Gosden.”

The colt, bred by the Noonan family, was “the busiest of the sale” according to John Noonan of Cregg Stud, who consigned him.

He added, “I bred his dam and didn’t sell her as a yearling but she has been very good to us since then. She is now in foal to Ribchester (Ire).”

A Mehmas colt was also on the list of Charlie Gordon-Watson, who bought lot 731 on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing at 160,000gns. The Tally-Ho Stud-bred colt is out of Diaminda (Ire) (Diamond Green {Fr}), a half-sister to G1 Golden Jubilee S winner Fayr Jag (Ire) (Fayruz {GB}).

Al Shaqab has focused much of its buying on the French market of late but picked up two yearlings in Newmarket on Monday, the other being lot 655, Barton Stud’s Teofilo (Ire) colt out of the Italian listed winner Cape Magic (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), for 200,000gns.

Derby Dreams For Strawberry Fields
Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud brought just one yearling to Book 2 and the strapping son of Nathaniel (Ire) (lot 724) made the top ten on Tuesday when selling for 280,000gns to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock.

It has been quite a reversal of fortune for the Green Desert mare Desert Berry (GB), whose first four offspring are all by the late Archipenko. One of those was bought back by Robinson for 1,000gns at the December Foal Sale of 2016 but ever since his year-older brother Archie McKellar (GB) advertised the family’s prowess by becoming a Group 3 winner in Hong Kong under the name of Flying Thunder, the mare’s subsequent yearlings have not been overlooked. The Hong Kong Jockey Club bought Archie McKellar’s full-brother for 425,000gns at Book 2 last year, but the Nathaniel colt looks set to remain in Europe.

“He is an exceptional mover,” said Brown, who did not divulge the horse’s new owner. “He is going to need some time but he looks a real Classic type.”

Robinson, who raced the colt’s half-sister, six-time winner Rose Berry (GB) (Archipenko), said with a smile, “I bought the mare from Chris Dwyer and she’s been good to us. He looks a real Classic colt, I expect to see him win the Derby.”

Back at Strawberry Fields Stud in Fulbourn, just outside Newmarket, Desert Berry also has an Al Kazeem (GB) filly foal and is in foal to Study Of Man (Ire).

Loughtown Filly In Fashion
A mid-May foaling date proved no barrier to the popularity of Loughtown Stud’s daughter of Invincible Spirit (Ire) (lot 700) out of the stakes-placed Cristal Fashion (Ire) (Jeremy), who was bought by Ross Doyle at 220,000gns and will go into training with Richard Hannon.

“The mare has a top back pedigree,” said Loughtown’s Paddy Burns, who bought Cristal Fashion, a grand-daughter of the G3 May Hill S. winner Solar Crystal (Ire) (Alzao), for €25,000 at the Goffs November Sale.

He added, “The whole team at home have done a top job and I’d just like to thank my head man Tom Brinkley, my wife Helena and everyone. She has gone to a great stable and wish them all the best with her. She has been a cracker all the way through.”

Doyle said. “I told Richard Hannon that I thought she was the best filly I had seen for the three days, and he agreed and decided we had to have her.”

He added, “She is from a great nursery and is out of a black-type mare. The last time we bought an Invincible Spirit yearling out of a black-type mare was [G2 Flying Childers winner] Zebedee (GB).”

Holy Pinhook
Bloodstock agents Johnny and Susie McKeever have been absent from the European sales circuit this year as Susie continues medical treatment in Australia, and the couple received a great pick-me-up with a foal pinhook purchased last year in partnership with James Hanly of Ballyhimikin Stud.

The Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) relation to Anna Salai (Dubawi {Ire}) and National Defense (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), sold near the end of the session as lot 783, had been purchased from breeder Stuart McPhee as a foal last November for €30,000 and sold on Monday for 235,000gns to SackvilleDonald.

McPhee bought the colt’s dam, the unraced Pivotal (GB) mare Fire Heroine, for 6,000gns from Darley in 2015.

“The McKeevers and I picked him out together. Johnny and Susie are in Australia and they were watching on. They are thrilled,” Hanly said.

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Global Group Of Trainers, Jockeys Reflect On The Pandemic

Racing has been fortunate to forge ahead in 2020 without crowds, but it is imperative that they return as soon as possible. That was one of the overriding themes of the third panel of the virtual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities released on Monday and entitled “Participating and working in racing during a global pandemic.” Moderator Rishi Persad spoke with trainers Charlie Appleby, Chris Waller and Ger Lyons as well as jockeys Hollie Doyle and Zac Purton about the experience of being a racing professional in 2020.

“When the country was in lockdown we’d probably be what you termed the lucky ones, because we were out carrying on as normal,” Lyons recalled of the early days of the pandemic. “You could feel it in the staff that they knew they were doing a normal day’s work while everyone else was in lockdown, so that actually became a positive. The initial fear was that we weren’t going to get back racing, but they worked wonders and got us back racing relatively early. I think they did a great job and rescued a season that looked like it was in turmoil.

Appleby described reacting to the crisis while part of his team was in Dubai.

“The situation arrived in the spring when we were in Dubai so we were just at that crossover point with the horses and our staff shipping back,” he explained. “We already had the majority of the team back in the UK and a small team still in Dubai to look after those horses that were due to participate on Dubai World Cup night. So it was making sure first and foremost that they were alright and comfortable with what they were doing.

“Similar to what Ger mentioned, we’re lucky with the industry we’re in that we’re outdoors. So that was a plus, but you still have to address it in the correct manner with the staff and make sure they’re comfortable in coming to work and also that their families are comfortable with them doing that as well.”

Waller described the experience of going racing in Australia without crowds.

“It was quite surreal, but it was good because everyone was watching racing,” he said. “We were lucky in Australia, we were the first sport up and running; we didn’t stop. Australia was locked down and for at least two months there was no sport whatsoever. So racing stood tall and for all the right reasons it was seen to be a responsible sport. Through that we got a lot of good recognition. We saw that responsibility and carried it through.”

Waller was quick to praise his country’s governing bodies, particularly those in New South Wales.

“It’s all about good administration, not just in dealing with global pandemics but in racing in general,” he said. “That’s where the world needs to come together and see the countries that are doing well and the ones that are struggling and figure out why. We’re all beneficiaries of those good administrators and it’s sad to see some countries lagging behind.”

Waller said Australia’s experience dealing with a shutdown of racing in 2008 due to the equine influenza outbreak likely helped lay the foundation for the path forward this time.

“Going back in Australia to 2008 we had the equine influenza, and that did shut racing down,” he said. “I think that made the government stand up and realize how important racing is to the economy and society. We stopped racing for about three months and there was a lesson there to make sure we support racing. I think just as much as having good administrators it is about having a good relationship with the government.”

Another district that has continued to race throughout the pandemic is Hong Kong. Leading local rider Zac Purton described how international punters latched onto the product.

“One of the byproducts of the commingling that the Jockey Club has brought in here in the last few seasons has been that when other countries were not able to go ahead with their sports and different products, they were all of a sudden locked into what we were doing here in Hong Kong and commingling went through the roof,” he said. “We benefitted quite a lot from it. Our prizemoney remained the same and it’s actually gone up this year.”

Doyle and Lyons have each experienced major career milestones this summer at spectator-less meetings, and they reflected on those experiences. Doyle, who has ridden her first Royal Ascot winner and group-race winner this year, noted that the quiet has been good for some horses but a hindrance to others.

“At Ascot, for example, I had a 2-year-old running that I thought, ‘this will be ideal with no crowd. He’s a bit hot-headed, this should suit him.’ And it did,” she said. “But on the other hand I had an old handicapper running and he’s like the yard hack at home, you wouldn’t even think he’s a racehorse. But he comes alive at the races with the crowd and atmosphere. I rode him at Ascot and he was just like the old hack at home; he never came alive. So I think it affects horses in different ways.”

Lyons won his first Classic in June with Siskin (First Defense) in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and his second with Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) the next month in the G1 Irish Oaks.

“It’s just typical me to win the two Classics in a year where there’s no crowds and prizemoney is cut,” he said.

“First and foremost, racing is about the owners in my opinion and you need owners,” Lyons added. “Myself or Chris or Charlie as trainers will handle no crowds and it’s possible we can actually do our work better on a raceday with no crowds. But we’ll all agree that racing won’t survive without crowds and we need people to come racing. You need an atmosphere and we need crowds back for the whole game to survive.”

Appleby added, “The word Ger used there that summed it all up was atmosphere. If you’re lucky enough to have a winner, as much as you get the satisfaction of winning the event, you get an immense sense of achievement when people are applauding yourself, the horse, the jockey, the owner. That’s very missed on those big occasions. We’re racing, which is the main thing, but in a sporting industry crowds are very important.”

One of the rules imposed on jockeys by the British Horseracing Authority from racing’s resumption in June was that jockeys would be permitted to ride at just one meeting per day. That became an industry talking point over the summer with many riders touting the benefits-both for career advancement and mental health. Doyle reflected on the rule, saying, “I think it swings both ways. For me now I have a retainer so it’s a bit complicated. For example, if he has a runner somewhere and Archie [Watson], who is also my boss, has a runner somewhere else, it is a bit annoying that I can’t ride for both, but I think from a mental health side of things it’s a lot nicer on everyone. I’ve picked up better spare rides on Saturdays, for instance, because the top blokes can’t do two meetings.

“What I think would be great [in the future] is if they had a cap on how many double meetings you could do a week. Maybe you could do double meetings twice a week, and that would be great because it’s not completely stopping you from doing your job but it’s giving you that little bit of freedom.”

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MG1SW Reliable Man Returns to Gestut Rottgen

MG1SW and Group 1 sire Reliable Man (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}-On Fair Stage {Ire}, by Sadler’s Wells) will return to Gestut Rottgen for the 2021 covering season, the German stud announced on Monday. The grey spent his first four years there, before standing for three years in France-a year at Haras du Thenney and two at Haras d’Annebault. A fee for the 12-year-old, who also shuttles to Westbury Stud in New Zealand, will be announced later.

A winner of the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. in 2011 and 2013, respectively, the N. P. Bloodstock-bred has sired 13 black-type winners, seven at the group level, to date, including G1 VRC Oaks winner Miami Bound (NZ), G1 New Zealand Oaks heroine Miss Sentimental (NZ), and German group winners Akribie (Ger), Narella (Ire), and Erasmus (Ger).

“‘We look forward to welcoming Reliable Man back to Röttgen,” stud manager Frank Dorff commented. “We shall certainly continue to support him with some of our best mares. In his first three years here we bred three group winners and a listed winner from only 13 foals. He consistently produces good looking, correct horses and they are able to run at two and then compete in the best races from 2000m-2400m at three.”

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