MARCH 2025
Double on the day as Soprano (left) and Spycatcher (right) swoop to Listed success during a phenomenal first day of The Turf season.
By Harry Herbert
And they’re off!! The flat season has at last begun and what a start we have had with a listed across the card double with Spycatcher at Doncaster and Soprano at Kempton. There was also plenty to get excited about and during my visit to Newmarket last week which gave all attending a real tingle of anticipation of what lies ahead this season. I do hope that you enjoy this newsletter and the many beautiful photos of our horses exercising in the glorious Spring sunshine!
Finally, Jake and I will be headed to Newmarket for the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up sale the week after next so make sure you check your emails as we launch the new purchases. A quick reminder that Jake’s breeze up purchases of recent years include Spycatcher, Cachet, Believing and Centigrade!! Now that is some record and one which I hope will give you some confidence when buying a share in the next crop.
With my best wishes,
Harry Herbert, Chairman
HORSE IN FOCUS
CHAPTER
Dark Angel IRE) x Timely (GB)
Chapter (2yo b c) powering up the gallops (3rd April 2025)
If you are looking to get involved in a precocious colt then this is your opportunity. This striking Dark Angel 2yo colt named Chapter has been going great guns in training. Charlie Hills could not be more complimentary about him. We caught up with Chapter this week and as you will see in this video he has a wonderfully forward going athletic action with a temperament to match. Charlie predicts he will be on the track as soon as mid May all being well. There are only a handful of shares remaining so do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in getting involved.
On the track
By Frances de Haan
If we can continue how we started the first day of the Turf then we could be in for a seriously exciting season! A double Listed success on the day is a remarkable feat and has got us off the fastest possible start!
Spycatcher was first off the mark with a determined performance doing well to fend off a late challenge by Iberian (Charlie Hills) in the closing stages to claim the Cammidge Trophy (Listed) by a neck at Doncaster.
Soprano completed the double with a gutsy display when making nearly all in the Snowdrop Fillies’ Stakes at Kempton. Wathnan’s Crimson Advocate was hot on her heels in the closing stages, but Soprano showed her class and held on to win by a nose!
Cue victorious celebrations in the winners enclosure at both race courses from delighted owners. What a memorable day!
Earlier in the month Jungle Land impressed on his seasonal debut at Wolverhampton returning to winning ways under a stylish ride by Billy Loughnane. He was unlucky to bump into one on his second run back at Wolverhampton eight days later, finishing the runner up on this occasion. It is fantastic to see the improvement in this horse and the enjoyment he is bringing to his owners.
Jungle Land winning his seasonal debut at Wolverhampton
Down under in Australia Redstone Well runs in the Easter Cup (G3) this Saturday at Caulfield hopefully he can build on his last run at Rosehill in February.
Now the season has started we look forward to watching our two year olds progress and seeing the older horses make their seasonal debuts. We have a seriously exciting group of horses this year, who will no doubt provide some thrilling action on the track in the weeks ahead.
The Foaling Season
by Newmarket Equine Hospital vets Jan Pynn MRCVS and Liam MacGillivray MRCVS
With the clocks going forward recently, we are well and truly in spring and most Thoroughbred studs are now at least halfway through their foaling season. In Newmarket approximately 1800 foals will be born between January and the end of May.
Frankel (foal) and Princess Loulou
When the decision was made by the Jockey Club in the 1800s to officially make the horses birthday the 1st January this was done for the convenience of classifying races. This has had a knock-on effect on the breeding industry, as an early foal is more desirable as it will be bigger and stronger at the sales and may have a significant advantage over its younger peers when racing at two and three years old.
Horses are seasonal breeders and their gestation period is 11 months. This means they are genetically programmed to breed in the spring and summer months. This is controlled by the brain detecting the length of daylight. During the autumn and winter when the days are short the mare’s ovaries will stop cycling but come spring, as daylight hours lengthen, the ovaries start to function. This is nature’s way of ensuring foals are born at the optimum time for their survival, with warmer, drier weather and more grass to support the mare’s milk production. However, due to the Thoroughbred birthday being on the 1st January there is a desire in the industry for foals to be born earlier in the year than nature intended. As daylight hours are short when the breeding season commences in mid-February, mares are unlikely to be cycling (receptive to the stallion) and so some trickery is required! On most commercial Thoroughbred studs, mares are stabled at night in Winter and so it is possible to keep the lights on in the stable until around 10-11pm. If the horse receives approximately 16 hours of light a day consistently over 4-6 weeks, it fools the mare’s reproductive tract into thinking it is Spring and the ovaries start to function.
The mare has an oestrus cycle, approximately 3 weeks long. For around one week of that she will be in season, when she is receptive to the stallion. At the end of this time she will ovulate and no longer allow the stallion to cover her. Studies of horses in the wild show that mares live in small harems of about 12-15 mares, with one stallion who guards the harem and mates with all the mares (until he is chased away by a younger, fitter stallion!). When a mare is in season she will be covered by the stallion up to 5 times a day until she has ovulated. Obviously on a commercial stud this is not possible, as the size of commercial Thoroughbred books means the stallions are far too busy to dedicate that time to one mare. At the peak of the breeding season, stallions may be covering up to 4 different mares a day and up to 200 mares through the season. As they are so busy, the mare usually only has one opportunity per cycle to be covered. It is important therefore that she is covered at the optimum time of her cycle to get in foal, just before ovulation, when she is the most receptive to the stallion. A mare that is not properly in season can be extremely aggressive and if mating is attempted the personnel and the stallion can be in considerable danger. This is where veterinary involvement is key: the vet will scan the mare’s ovaries regularly and will be able to detect when she is close to ovulating and so the appropriate cover time can be arranged. After the mare is covered, she is scanned again to check she has ovulated and, if there is any sign of inflammation or infection in the uterus, this can be treated at this time.
Jan Pynn scanning a mare
The mare will next be checked at 14-15 days after ovulation which will be 15-16 days after covering for pregnancy diagnosis. This involves scanning the uterus for an embryo, which at this stage is a small (about 1.6cm) fluid-filled vesicle. Unusually, the equine embryo is still mobile at this stage. This is important as, if a twin is present, they can be moved apart and one reduced. Mares rarely carry twin foals successfully and on rare occasions when both survive, they are very small and weak. The next scan is at 28 days, when an embryonic heartbeat is detectable. At 45 days the foetus has eyes and limbs forming, and by 65 days scans reveal a miniature horse, a remarkable development in little over two months.
Thoroughbred pregnancies are probably the most intensely monitored early pregnancies of any species, which is increasingly of interest to researchers of early human pregnancies, as the horse can provide insights for human medicine, for instance in understanding causes of miscarriage in women. The 60-65 day scan is also the best opportunity to identify the sex of the foetus. After this, mares will usually be checked for pregnancy once more, before the 1st October, traditionally the date at which the covering fee is paid for the stallion.
As equine vets we are more fortunate than our cattle counterparts as horses are far less likely to need a caesarean. The mare will only allow the foetus to grow to the size she has available and most difficult births are generally due to a foetal deformity, such as contracted legs.
A foal with contracted legs
Beef cattle on the other hand will often have foetuses so large they cannot pass through the pelvic canal and so caesareans are commonplace. The incident rate for caesareans in the horse is around 1%. Once a mare is in established labour, things progress rapidly and the foetus needs to be delivered as quickly as possible. Second stage of labour for a mare should be approximately 20 minutes, compared with 5 hours for a cow. This is due to the very strong abdominal muscles of the horse causing an explosive delivery. Therefore if a mare is in foaling difficulty the length of time it takes to get to the vet can make all the difference to the end results. Once the foal has been successfully delivered and is hopefully quickly up and feeding, a post foaling check will be completed within 24 hours to ensure that they are healthy and well and have a sufficient antibodies, which they gain from the mares’ colostrum to have the best start in life.
Like mares, stud vets’ lives are dominated by the seasons, with most of us working seven days a week through the breeding season. It is a busy time, but one always filled with plenty of interest and the satisfaction of working with these beautiful animals and the people who care for them.
Fine wine prices on the slide - the end of en primeur?
By Alex Smith
A fellow wine enthusiast and good friend sent me an email showing the drop in prices on red Bordeaux wines from the “en primeur” 2021 vintage. Theses were being offered by Justerini & Brooks one of the oldest and respected wine merchants in the world. As you can see in some cases the reduction was as high as nearly 50%!!
This example tells us two things about the state of the wine trade and wine prices right now. In short things are not looking good for both prices and the en primeur market, where traditionally buyers bought wine in the barrel before it is bottled, in order to benefit from an early release price, and then sit back and watch the price increase as the wines begin to reach their drinking window. At this stage the buyer can decide to sell and take a profit (in some cases a very large one) or drink the wine-in my view always the better option.! Some would buy their favourite Chateau “en primuer” every year (unless it was particularly bad vintage), while others dipped in and out, only buying the best years. In the last few years however en primeur has not proved to be such a good investment with only modest returns and more recently declines in prices such as 2021.
A few wine merchants called time on en primeur some time ago and with the 2022 campaign about to be launched, most are luke warm about this year’s prospects. Hardly surprising as prior to the drop in prices, the market was very strong and resulted in frankly silly values for the top wines, in my view offering poor value for money. It is becoming clear that buyers are better off waiting to buy these wines a few years after their release. Does this mark the end of en primeur? As we know it for sure, but some will continue to buy the very best (Latour, Lafite, Mouton etc) and at this level there is still a case for doing so.
As regards general wine prices, the fine wine market has been in the doldrums for a while now, some trying to call the bottom of the market, but that looks premature. Liv-ex (London International Vintners Exchange) is a global marketplace and independent operator for the fine wine trade, allowing wine businesses to buy and sell fine wine, providing real-time pricing and historical statistics. Its fine wine 50 index is currently below the levels of 2020. Speaking to a friend in the trade liquidity is subdued at best and business slow. Sellers are realising that in order to sell they need to drop their prices. Other factors include a waning Chinese market, partly responsible for the steep rises in the past.
The past five years have demonstrated lessons about the relationship between interest rates and luxury collectable items. In a nutshell interest rates appear to have more power to drive prices upwards than previously realised. Conversely rising/high rates can also erase those gains. From July 2019 to February 2022, when Covid panic hit the markets, global interest rates fell fast, US rates hitting an historic low of just 0.25%. Between March 2020 and September 2022 Fine Wine prices rose 28.5% in one of the steepest short term gains in history. For example Louis Roederer Cristal 2008 (six bottles) was trading around £1000 per case in March 2020, but by the peak of the market in September 2022 had more than doubled to over £2000 a case. As interest rates began to rise, so wine prices (although not immediately) began to fall.
Louis Roederer Cristal
So what of the future? I can see prices remaining subdued for near future. Although prices have come down, in some cases significantly, this is offset by the frankly incredible rises over the last twenty years. Liv-ex’s Fine Wine 1000, which tracks the price of fine has seen an increase of 314.6%!! over the period, thus outperforming more traditional assets.
Rolf’s Ramblings
by Rolf Johnson
WALKOVERS OVER AND OUT
Walkovers are no more, scrapped, and stories can now be told. The new Rule means that the ‘winner’ of a walkover doesn’t even have to turn up to trundle past the judge and the winning post; they’ll stay in their box, feet up or stamping with frustration, denied a day out.
Matches were how racing began – my horse is better than your horse – and it only needed one horse to drop out…’Eclipse first the rest nowhere’ is one of the most famous, if not the most famous phrase in racing. And in eight of his eighteen races that was the case – they were walkovers.
No more ironic cheers then as the lone ranger canters past the judge. The history making jockey on the last walkover, jockey Sean Quinlan looked pleased: Yealand’s are unrecorded. In the Haydock winner’s enclosure last month, the six-year-old looked as though he hadn’t had a race.
It was a hot Bank Holiday down at Newton Abbot, and as we’re long past the statute of limitations the story can be told. Then as now, the ground was rock hard. There were only three declarations for the staying hurdle on the second day of the meeting, the Monday after the Saturday. One of the three, all the way from Newmarket, had run on the Saturday: turning out both days wasn’t unusual. A second was trained just down the road in Devon. We were halfway between the two, in Hampshire.
We rang Newton Abbot on the Sunday morning and got put through (pre mobile days) to the racecourses stables. Saturday runner’s lass blurted, guilessly, that her horse had cut himself in the race, so she’d scratched him.
We were unashamedly profuse with phoney sympathy, putting the phone down just long enough to pick it up again and ring David Barons at Woodleigh. He was king of Newton Abbot. Negotiations got under way: “You drive yours up the road David and we’ll pull out: split the prize money fifty-fifty – ok?”
Wily David wasn’t born yesterday. He offered sixty-forty. We persisted – if only because, on the book, we had a better chance despite our old stager Rolyat rising fourteen. He’d run at Ascot as a two-year-old and saw out his career the next season, 1979, winning at Devon & Exeter. They don’t make ‘em like Roly anymore. If they’d raced on tarmac he’d have been a champion. Watering would have halved his career.
We ought to have been suspicious when local trainer Barons, not noted for sentimentality, conceded, agreeing to split prize money down the middle. On the Monday his horse was saddled in the racecourse stables, behind closed doors. He went halfway round the parade ring and straight to the start – on the way to which the cat leapt out of the bag.
The horse crept down to the distance pole, returning gingerly and dismounted immediately. After a brief appearance in the winner’s enclosure, where he was as lame as the aforesaid cat, he was hustled back home to Woodleigh.
Old ‘Roly’? Never sick or sorry in his long life, turned out at Kimpton in the days before the race he’d stuck a leg through a wire fence. There was no way he could have run: some double bluff? At least both horses got their vet fees paid for.
Rolyat didn’t make history even if he made old bones. If Yealand is as durable, he’ll do well. Both his declared rivals were withdrawn “due to the going”. Other reasons for withdrawal depend on the ingenuity of the trainer/stable office and or the vagaries, the pitfalls of all that entails even getting a runner to the races. According to the BHA, the change is designed to “reduce the overall impact of a walkover and remove the additional requirements placed on participants”. That statement requires translation - it means punters won’t have their betting patterns interrupted by a hiatus that does nothing for racing’s image. Yealand’s jockey rose to the occasion – punching the air as he passed the post - groan.
Orchestrating a walk over was/is a major ambition for racing offices. We had a runner at Brighton in a two-horse affair. The trainer of the ‘other’ wouldn’t play ball. He knew ours, long odds on, was a thief. All the blinkers did was allow said individual to see what he wanted to – other horse’s backsides, preferably disappearing in the distance - so he could come home in his own time.
All very well but the other horse dumped his jockey as they went out and if he’d done the decent thing and run off, we’d have had our w.o. Instead, he just stood there obligingly while the bewildered jockey was hoisted back in the saddle. As the horse careered to the start the odds on ours tumbled.
From the start the winner ran away with his rider, while ours flatly refused to give chase, let alone go past. What was really galling was when the winning jockey, in considerable pain, was eased from the saddle – to be carted off to Brighton General with a broken collar bone.
We think of walkovers in the abstract – when Frankel starts at 1-20 it was a ‘walkover’. And the phrase has been abducted by just about every human endeavour. In sport my favourite case came in the 1974 World Cup when Chile had to turn out and even score a goal to walk over when the Soviet Union wouldn’t play them.
Nb: A previous change to the weights and handicapping code meant walkovers have not counted towards handicap marks, penalties or qualifications since the start of 2022. Yealand might have shown more appreciation for not having to raise a gallop or jump Haydock’s fences when, four days later, no penalty, small field, he was beaten favourite at Carlisle. Should have organised a walkover.
Where Are They Now?
by Frances de Haan
This month Henrietta Gourlay has sent in a very indepth report on a much loved Botanist, a son of Bated Breath, who enjoyed racing with Highclere during 2021 and 2022. On the track Botanist was a winner third time out as a 2YO. He was retired during his three year old career and judging from what you are about to read I can safely say he has been living life to the full ever since!
Botanist powering home to victory at Wolverhampton in a 6f Novice Stakes 13.11.21
I hope you enjoy Henrietta’s brilliant update on Botanist below:
‘As you can see he is very much loved so much so that my children bemoan the fact that he is in fact my favourite child!
My mother asked me to rehome him because he has the most phenomenal temperament and my family have always believed you can ‘do anything with a good temperament’. This was confirmed when I merrily put my GP saddle on him to try him at Georges yard and took him out for a ride – he didn’t bat an eyelid, but in hindsight probably not the most sensible way to try a three year old racehorse!
I basically turned him out for about eight months after I took him on – a bit of a shock as he went from the luxury of George’s yard to having to live out 100% of the time and share a paddock with a toothless shetland. He had a very odd hind action too which I resolved by getting him all sorts of treatment. He now has his own podiatrist, acupuncturist, chiropractor and physio and has a completely normal action now as you can see in the videos.
Botanist is barefoot. He wears scoot boots in front when its super frosty, and occasionally out hunting in front if its hard going and stony but I generally hunt him completely barefoot because it is annoying when the boots come off mid gallop and I have to retrieve it. Although he is amazing and has no issue leaving the other horses and stands completely still whilst I re-boot and then remount! He is amazing to hunt and I actually hunt him in an Acavello Sensitive bit (which is basically hard rubber). He is literally the most genuine horse I have ever owned, he has never stopped out jumping and is very bold and takes you to the jump. I have a sharer for him now who is doing Sport A-level (Riding being her sport) and needed a horse to do this on. This works perfectly because I work so can’t ride during the week and my kids are competing now. Jamie (my 13 yr old son) has outgrown his pony so is gradually moving onto him. He only likes to hunt so has plenty of time to get used to him before the next season.
Bot’s sire is Bated Breath and dam is Sunflower. If there was another full sibling I would highly recommend them as a rehoming project! Candida said that Bated Breath is renowned for producing good temperaments.’
Clodagh’s recipe
by Clodagh McKenna Herbert
EASY ORANGE SCONES
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan)
2. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl. The stir in the sugar and a pinch of salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture using your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually pour in the milk, orange juice and zest and mix together to make a soft dough.
3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 1cm (1/2in). Cut into circles with a pastry cutter or an upturned glass. Brush the scones with the remaining milk and a sprinkle of sugar, and zest of orange. Place the circles on a floured baking tray.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Once baked leave to cool on a wire rack.
Makes 10 scones
INGREDIENTS:
450g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
60g caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
100g butter, chilled and cubed
Zest and juice of 1 orange
300ml buttermilk
For the topping
2 tsp caster sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Taittinger Moment
Anna and Kevin Laney
Aviemore on his way to victory at Huntingdon
Anna Laney and her brother Kevin are relatively new owners but they recently came into Aviemore as he was launched on the day that very sadly their father Albie Laney (who was also a Highclere owner) passed away. Anna and Kevin grew up going to the races with their father Albie and so when he sadly fell ill they decided to join Highclere to bring as much joy as possible to Albie’s remaining days, and so they became owners in Jungle Land and Prankster.
Very sadly Albie passed away and on the very same day Aviemore was launched as a new syndicate for our National Hunt string. Anna, Kevin and their family decided it was a sign from their father that they should get involved, and so Aviemore became their memorial horse in memory of Albie.
Anna Laney and her brother Kevin pictured with fellow winning owners at Huntingdon
Aviemore has been a huge triumph over hurdles, he has been victorious in two of his four starts (the latest he won by 20 lengths!!), and so Albie must be working wonders from upstairs! Anna and Kevin were there when Aviemore won both at Warwick and Huntingdon and it was a hugely happy and emotional day. Aviemore most recently took owners to The Randox Grand National meeting at Aintree for a Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle, even though he was not victorious he gave everyone a wonderful day out at one of the Worlds greatest racing events.
Anna Laney celebrating with trainer Harry Derham at Huntingdon
Aviemore now heads to Aintree for a Grade One, it is safe to say that this horse has brought an incredible amount of success in such a short space of time!
Jungle Land is also a recent winner, which is special in its own right, having originally been Albie’s share. These experiences are hopefully just what Albie would have wanted his family to be having, and Anna and Kevin are certain that he is watching on with pride.
Out and About with the Highclere camera
