**Soprano parades in the pre-parade ring at Royal Ascot ahead of the Albany Stakes**

By Harry Herbert

It was such a thrill to see so many of our owners throughout Royal Ascot week and top hats off to those of you who had travelled from as far afield as Australia, America and Bermuda! The picnics in the owners and trainers car park each day were full of chat and excitement ahead of wonderful racing to come each afternoon and the Taittinger magnums poured relentlessly by Messrs Cornell and Kershaw ensured that no one went thirsty!

Watching their Majesties first Royal Ascot victory when Desert Hero got up on the line to win the King George V Handicap under a great ride from Tom Marquand was very special and seeing their faces so full of emotion and happiness was utterly heartwarming. I briefly caught John Warren’s eye in the unsaddling enclosure and we later admitted to having a rather big lump in our throat as he looked skywards knowing what pleasure this would have given the late Queen. Soprano gave her owners a big shout in the Albany (Gr 3) when finishing third and this very talented filly now heads to the Duchess of Cambridge (Gr 2) at Newmarket on Friday. Spycatcher continued his fairy tale come back when winning his first group race at Deauville last Sunday. We decided to retire him last September after he continued to suffer from soundness issues. Jake and I were at Doncaster sales and having seen leading veterinary surgeon, Duncan Moir there we showed him the X-rays. He gave us a much more positive diagnosis and after a quick chat to Karl we went along with Duncan’s plan. Under his supervision and Karl Burke’s great training this amazing horse has now won a Conditions Race and a Group 3 this season and he possibly heads next into Group 1 company in the Maurice de Gheest back at Deauville! What a story!

More of our two year olds are limbering up into fast work which is so exciting and our unbeaten three year old filly, Truthful, moves up to black type company next week at Newmarket in the Aphrodite Stakes (Listed). There is much to look forward to!

On The Track

By Emily Scott

June is always one of our busiest months with runners and this year was no exception. The focus is obviously Royal Ascot and, although we didn’t have a winner to celebrate, Soprano did show herself to be a filly out of the top draw when finishing third (beaten 2 lengths) in the Albany Stakes (Gr 3). She was unfortunate to be drawn high when the action was taking place on the far side and William Buick made a quick decision mid-race to change his course. It was this move that enabled him to finish as close as he did, but it meant Soprano used up vital energy and William said he would have very nearly won if he had been drawn low. You may remember that Cachet was fifth in the same race two years ago and so who knows what heights Soprano can climb to in the coming months. Also at Ascot was Atrium who ran well to finish 9th in a highly competitive Royal Hunt Cup and unfortunately Eximious didn’t look to stay the stiff mile in the Sandringham Stakes, having travelled like the winner until the final furlong.

**Soprano goes to post ahead of the Albany Stakes (Gr 3)**

Earlier in the month Truthful justified odds-on favouritism to remain unbeaten in a £40,000 fillies’ novice at Haydock. She looked wise beyond her years when winning on debut at Salisbury a month earlier and Tom Marquand who maintained the partnership looked supremely confident the whole way round. Truthful had a wall of horses in front of her approaching the final two furlongs, but when the gap opened, she burst clear to put daylight between herself and her nearest market rival Shagpyle. Truthful is a filly who has taken a while to come to hand, mainly due to her size, but so far she looks worth the wait and I have a feeling there is more to come. William has made some fancy entries for her, but first stop is the Aphrodite Stakes (Listed) over 1m4f at Newmarket on Saturday 22nd July.

**Truthful makes it 2 from 2 at Haydock**

It was unfortunate that Pastiche didn’t sneak into the Sandringham Stakes at the bottom of the weights because I think she would have run a massive race. She instead went to Newmarket the same day for a 0-90 fillies’ handicap where she impressed with a runaway victory under Neil Callan. This race was over 7f and George is still convinced she will be even better over a mile. On a humid evening at Newmarket, she was the only filly not to get warm beforehand and she was a push button ride for Neil Callan who was very complimentary about her after the race. She is pictured below working with Wild Side who also failed to get into the Sandringham and won on the same day at Redcar. Pastiche was raised 7lbs for this victory to a mark of 87 and we all hope there is more to come.

Chic Colombine has started favourite on all three of her runs, which came in quick succession through late May and early June. She got off the mark on her third attempt in a 7f maiden at Newcastle where she travelled with real swagger and stretched clear to win by a length with plenty in hand. She has proved to be very consistent but has never found as much off the bridle as George Boughey has expected, so as she is a big filly George has taken the opportunity to give her a mid-season break at the National Stud. She is a filly who will stretch out to middle distances next year so to win over 7f as a two-year-old is a real bonus and I think testament to her class. Her form figures now read 3-2-1, so we look forward to seeing her back out towards the end of the summer.

**It’s third time lucky for Chic Colombine who breaks her maiden in good style at Newcastle**

Estate ran five times as a two-year-old without winning and he has proved a bit of a revelation this season with two wins and three places from six starts. His latest victory came over 5f at Windsor last week where he looked to be struggling to go the early pace under William Buick, but once the pace collapsed up front, he picked up the best to get up in the shadows of the post. William Buick, who knew he had done enough, eased Estate down to win by a neck on the line. He looked to particularly enjoy the attention in the winner’s enclosure afterwards from his adoring group of owners and even managed to smile for the camera (see photo in ‘Out and about with the Highclere camera’ – photo credit to Richard Murdoch!). We have yet to explore 6f this season with Estate and now he is so much more relaxed one would hope that will be well within his grasp.

**Estate wins for the second time this season under a brilliant ride from William Buick at Windsor**

It has been a very fruitful month for Spycatcher who stormed to victory in the Prix de Ris-Orangis (Gr 3) at Deauville on Sunday having finished a close second in the Chipchase Stakes (Gr 3) at Newcastle 8 days earlier. Now a 5yo, Spycatcher has been a consistent high level performer and so this first Group victory is thoroughly well deserved. He travelled very strongly in behind under Clifford Lee and when asked to quicken bounded clear to win by a wide margin. No doubt the ease in the ground helped his cause and I’m sure Karl will look to take him back to France later on in the year. This was Spycatcher’s fifth career win and took his lifetime earnings to £182,309. Hopefully the best is yet to come for this evergreen son of Vadamos!

**Spycatcher storms clear to register his first Group win in the Prix de Ris-Orangis (Gr 3) at Deauville**

Royal Ascot in pictures

Isidore Carivals with Emma & Katie Lumsden

Rolf’s Rambling’s

By Rolf Johnson

HORSE SENSE

There’s no NHS for horses. And it’s cheaper to insure four wheels than four legs. You’d imagine ‘Doctor Green’ was free, gratis – not unless you’ve got your own green green grass of home and even then horse paddocks demand more TLC than Wimbledon’s lawns. When they’ve abolished racing, Coronations, Trooping the Colour, kid’s Pony Clubs, and cowboy films will Animal Rights vigilantes will pick up the veterinary bills for all the ‘liberated’ equines – and put blacksmiths (and thousands whose livelihoods depend on their care of horses) out of business. They have yet to release pension plans for four-legged friends - when their released them from ‘exploitation’.

I can’t repeat often enough the words of the ‘professor’ of all matters equine, doyen of trainers Sir Mark Prescott. “My job is to stop my horses killing themselves”. Horses are as vulnerable when turned out in a field as being exercised on the gallops, or performing on the racecourse, or charging up the Valley of Death. Our yard housed the dumbest boat of a chaser, sold to big names in the entertainment industry. He soon distinguished himself by falling at the last fence at Devon and Exeter - so far clear his furious jockey had time to remount and get up to win going away.

So when he, Banville Lad to give him a name, went to Newbury there was expectancy in the air. Banville didn’t give the last fence down the far side any air at all, ploughing a hole the size of the Blackwall Tunnel. So he was turned out for the summer to ‘develop into his frame’ - with the help of ‘Doctor Green’.

Somebody rushed into the office wailing “Banville Lad’s broken his leg.” Who knows what possessed the beast; he’d jumped a hedge – just for the hell of it. Trainer Toby Balding, distraught, pushing back his spectacles and clearing his throat, delivered a valediction which could be considered laconic by some, brutal by others. “For once in his life the damned horse finds a leg - and he goes and breaks it”. (‘Finding a leg’ – when a horse makes a mistake jumping his instinct is to brace him, or her, self with a foreleg).

Nobody, but nobody, had a greater empathy with his horses, a more absorbed ‘feel’ for them, than ‘Tobes’.

We’ve just had a horse put down. It’s instant; veterinarian’s modern drugs are ultra-efficient. We fed her carrots. We talked to her - familiar voices. The mare, twenty-seven years old, had become increasingly immobile and horses can’t put their feet up. Her two companions have barely left one another’s side since.

To accusations one is playing God, making the ultimate decision – life or death – those with animus should focus on the concept of mercy and dismiss notions of expediency. Expensive but by no means mercenary vets live high on the hoof (sorry) treating the multitude of equine afflictions. Had the mare been human there would have been a strong case, even years ago, for a single ticket to Switzerland. It would have been cheaper. The operative word is euthanasia – Greek for good death.

Animal Rights groups, self-styled guardians of the animal kingdom have not, to my satisfaction anyway, provided a script for either good lives or good deaths. “Keep a shoe, madam? Some hairs?” asked the knacker man. They used to make horses feet into inkwells. Well no, not for us. Dorothy’s owner brought flowers, for us. Dorothy was cremated. She is not being replaced. It’s not that she was ‘irreplaceable’ and she was long past her sell by date…callous? well you, some of you, wanted to hear it how it is; and if that’s not ‘enough information’ there will be ten less droppings a day that require scraping up from the paddocks, otherwise ‘Doctor Green’ over-grazed, gets ‘horse sick’. Look for fields of golden buttercups, a sure of unhealthy pasture.

You keep horses, they don’t keep you – well OK the odd one does. Horses are, by and large, a loss leader, the pleasure they give through the seasons buckling under the cost. The keep for an eventer or showjumper has even less chance of recovery than a racehorse’s; polo ponies, don’t go there. There is little reason for show horses such as the biggest breed, Shires, being kept alive – except they shouldn’t need a reason: the value of a horse has nothing to do with a financial balance sheet.

The plough is a museum piece; rag and bone men are redundant; we need carriage horses for the occasional ceremonial: Westerns (also called ‘Oaters’) are no longer in vogue. Thoroughbreds are about the only equine breed that is multiplying. In my youth there would be a clod hopper who paid his way pulling the ice cream float round the backstreets of our town. He made a very valuable contribution to the local economy - droppings – kids would fight over them; they were perfect for forcing rhubarb. Still are.

Exploited? Who, us or them? I read that a thoroughbred horse was alive in 2023 in Australia, aged 40 (110 in human money). Phantom Rock had had a tumour removed and some of his teeth (he was a windsucker) and for many years of ministering when he could put one foot in front of another, he returned $200 in prize money to his owners. Who was exploiting whom? Neither. Phantom Rocket was somebody’s darling: he reciprocated the gesture by prolonging his exit. Measures to ensure horses go to post sound in Australia are the most stringent in the world. And yet animal protest movements there have greater traction than most other places – steeplechasing has been given the heave ho; runners are pulled from races at the last moment on provocative pre-race examinations. But the strong Aussie bond with horses has survived. Ned Kelly and his bushrangers remain icons – even more romanticized than our Dick Turpin.

History and literature has rhapsodized the horse. Jonathan Swift set Gulliver’s Travels and their most famous characters – the houyhnhnms (whinims) – in a land just south of Australia. Intelligent horses with human attributes the houyhnhnm’s enemies were the yahoos – ignorant and uncouth human beings. But even there, in Swift’s horse utopia, not all the horses have the same status and the satire of George Orwell’s Animal Farm underlines the fact: “All animals are created equal but some animals are more equal than others.”

In the preface to Ukrainian edition of Animal Farm (1947) sub-titled ‘A Fairy Story’: Orwell wrote: “It struck me that if only such animals (horses) became aware of their strength we should have no power over them”. His context was one of the activist’s bugbears - a boy whipping a horse. Orwell’s compassion didn’t signal lack of sympathy with racing. In his ‘A Collection of Essays’ he admonishes those (Animal Rising’s forbears?) who “snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings.”.

That snigger has developed into a raucous call to end racing though racing will be well advised not regard all ‘antis’ as Yahoos: they aren’t all parading placards bragging “I RESCUED THE KING’S SHEEP” such as some misguided folk waved aloft after ‘liberating’ three Royal lambs. Such incidents are bound to raise ire and derision but concluding they are all Yahoos could come back to bite us. The argument has to be won, not imposed.

Nineteenth century writer G J Whyte-Melville whose line “I freely admit that the best of my fun I owe to the Horse and Hound” is the masthead to the magazine that is the weekly companion of horse lovers. He all but reiterated Sir Mark Prescott’s dictum when he maintained: “He (the horse) would rather do wrong than right, if only he can be taught to distinguish one from the other.” Whyte-Melville came off his steed out hunting and was killed.

Clodagh’s Recipe

Fish Tacos With Pea Guacamole

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

500g (1lb 2oz) cod, cut into 16 slices

125g (4½ oz) plain flour

¼ tsp cayenne pepper 1 large egg

250ml (9 fl oz) light beer

125ml (4fl oz) sour cream

1 tbsp minced jalapeño

30g (1oz) freshly chopped coriander, plus more for garnish

250ml (9 fl oz) sunflower oil

8 small flour tortillas

75g (2½ oz) shredded cabbage

For the pea guacamole

200g (6oz) peas (fresh or frozen)

1 avocado, peeled

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

1 tablespoon of crème fraiche

juice and zest of 1 lime

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serve with wedges of limes

METHOD:

1. Start by making the batter for the fish. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, cayenne, salt, egg, and beer. Whisk together until you reach a smooth consistency and set aside at room temperature.

2. In a large pot, preheat oil to 350°. Dip fish into batter and allow excess batter to drip off before adding to oil. Fry fish, flipping to ensure its evenly browned, about four minutes, then place on a paper towel-lined plate and season with sea salt.

3. In a small bowl make the pea guacamole. Place all the ingredients in a food processor, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and blend for a minute or until smooth.

4. Warm tortillas in a dry skillet. Serve tacos with sour cream, jalapeño cabbage, guacamole, fresh coriander, and lime wedges.

Where are they now?

SCHUMANN

Schumann, who was previously trained by Richard Hughes for Highclere, has moved to Yorkshire to friends of Frances’ who are hoping he can provide some fun as a dual purpose prospect. He has been turned out since he arrived and has just recently started to be ridden again. As you can see he looks to be enjoying life!