OCTOBER
A hugely successful Yearling Parade was held this month at Highclere Stud, showcasing our top class crop of yearlings to race in 2025
By Harry Herbert
We have recently held our yearling parades at Highclere Stud where for only the second time in 33 years it rained on our parade!
The Sunday turned wet and windy but thankfully it wasn’t cold and the horses behaved beautifully. Fine weather returned on the second day and overall we couldn’t have been happier with this unique Highclere annual event.
A chance to catch up with current owners and to meet new faces as Jakes’ team showed off the most lovely group of young horses.
As you will see later in this newsletter we have a few shares available still in two gorgeous fillies and one very handsome colt so do get in touch if you would like to know more. This week I saw three of our yearlings going through the breaking process and all three are now ridden away.
As I looked at these horses it made me realise how quickly time moves on and that in only a few months time some will already be racing. What stars will emerge?
That of course is the great thrill of owning a share in an unproven two year old so here’s wishing all of you who bought a share in one of these new syndicates the very best of racing luck next season and beyond!
With my best wishes,
Harry Herbert, Chairman
On the track
By Emily Scott
This month was unique in the fact that Highclere recorded three winners across two codes and two hemispheres, a feat I’m not sure has been achieved before now!
Down under it was Redstone Well who stormed to victory in the Port Macquarie Cup earning $109,000 for his troubles. He followed up with a decent sixth in the $3,000,000 Big Dance at Randwick last week, adding a further $60,000 to his prize money earnings, which now total $632,802. He is a horse who has matured with his racing in Australia and appears to have bundles of ability so there’s clearly more to come from him as the season progresses.
The National Hunt season started with a bang for the pale blue and dark blue silks as Valgrand made light work of the Sharp Novices’ Hurdle (Gr 2) at Cheltenham’s opening meeting. Harry Skelton was sharp from the start as he jumped off into an early lead and from there Valgrand never saw another rival. He hurdled amazingly well, showing great progression from his first two starts over obstacles in the spring. He was particularly spring heeled at the second last and then kicked clear off the bend to record a wide margin victory. Dan thinks he will make a chaser in time, but he certainly hurdles well enough to suggest he can make his mark this year in novice company. He could return to Cheltenham next week for the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle (Gr 2).
Valgrand Owners at Cheltenham
As the flat turf season draws to a close, we reflect on a fantastic season, highlighted by a few standout performances, including Soprano at Royal Ascot, Believing at the Curragh, Approval at Glorious Goodwood and Spycatcher in Deauville. The autumn has brought its own excitements as the very promising string of two-year-olds come out one by one. Last month we saw Orchid and Rhapsody stride to victory and this month it was Centigrade who showed his hand as he won by a wide margin at our home track. He had made a very promising debut a couple of months earlier and his master trainer Ralph Beckett took his time with this son of Too Darn Hot before bringing him back out. This patience clearly paid off as he impressed with this facile victory on just his second start, earning a rating of 103p from Timeform.
Another two-year-old to make an encouraging debut was Merchant for William Haggas. He started him off over 7f, which was a touch short for this son of Teofilo, who ran on well towards the latter stages of the race. He is likely to have another run this side of Christmas where he will hopefully put this experience to good use.
THE 2024 YEARLING PARADE
By Frances de Haan
The 2024 yearling parade was a momentous success. Over 500 people attended from far and wide across the two days, where we showcased our ten top class yearlings for the 2025 season.
Once again Highclere Stud and their dedicated team put on a spectacular display, the stud looked outstanding and all the yearlings were immaculately turned out.
The day started off with a delicious breakfast in the covering barn, which had been converted into a wonderful hosting area. Images of past and present champions decked the barn walls, a fantastic montage displaying particularly special moments over the past year experienced by our owners provided a fantastic back drop. Owners and guests gathered; a palpable buzz filled the air as anticipation mounted ahead of the parade. Murmurs of ‘Which yearling do you like best? Have you already got your name down for this one?’ could be heard amongst the bustle.
Before long it was time to find a seat in the grandstand, the excitement building as the class of 2025 were about to be revealed. Harry and Jake proceeded to talk through each of the yearlings as they were paraded round in front of the stand. Each trainer associated with their yearling spoke too, each providing a wonderful insight into the horse’s breeding, athleticism and their hope for the 2025 season ahead.
The weather gods were not overly kind on the first day. The parade has been running for over three decades and it was only the second time it had rained. However, this only demonstrated what good temperaments the yearlings had as they all behaved extremely well despite the driving rain and wind!
Harry and Jake outlined why they selected each yearling at the Tattersalls Book 1 and Book 2 sales, with one coming from the Goffs Orby sale in Ireland. This years crop boasts an array of outstanding bloodlines: Sea The Stars, No Nay Never, Mehmas, Starspangledbanner, Blue Point, Palace Pier, Showcasing and the first season sire Galiway.
Once all ten yearlings had been paraded, guests were invited to go up to the yearlings and meet them for themselves. Choosing your horse for next year is an incredibly personal choice, so being granted access to these valuable athletes in their stables, combined with the opportunity to speak to the trainers, gives a unique insight into each horse. A truly special moment.
To round up the day guests were treated to a delicious lunch, with a menu carefully curated by Harry’s wife Clodagh McKenna. Views over Highclere Stud provided a perfect setting for the feast! Felix Francis also attended signing his new book appropriately named ‘Syndicate’. A great opportunity to purchase an early Christmas present!
Both days were a huge success and a fantastic time was had by all. What is more nearly all of our horses have completely sold out to owners old and new! There are only a handful of shares available in three, so if you missed out or are interested at all please do not hesitate to get in touch to find out more.
Please click on the link below for more information. Don’t miss out as they are going fast!
how to spot equine Talent at Tattersalls
behind the scenes with Associate Director, Matthew Prior of Tattersalls
Matthew Prior Associate Director, Tattersalls
By Frances de Haan
What is your name and your role at Tattersalls?
Matthew Prior, Associate Director
In layman’s terms what does that entail?
I am jointly responsible for the bloodstock operations for the UK-based sales. The appeal of the role is that it varies depending on the time of year, whether that be overseeing the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sales during the jumps season, or inspecting and recruiting youngstock, horses in training and mares during the flat season for our respective sales conducted at Park Paddocks in Newmarket.
How did Tattersalls come to be one of the most prestigious sales houses in the industry? Ie how old is it and a very quick summary on its history (when it started, the scale of growth to now etc)
Tattersalls is the world’s oldest and Europe's leading bloodstock auctioneers, having been established 258 years ago in 1766 by Richard Tattersall. Tattersall, the former stud groom to the second Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, was an enterprising entrepreneur whose unorthodox business model ensured he quickly made a name for himself. In paying vendors before the buyers had paid him, Tattersall became the go to auction house, and this business model is one that Tattersalls stands by to this present day.
When the 99-year lease came to an end at Hyde Park Corner the sales moved to Knightsbridge Green, opposite to where Harrods is now. These sales came to an end in 1939 and the sales ultimately all relocated to Newmarket with the current sale ring built at Park Paddocks in 1965. The Tattersall link to the company ended in 1942 following the death of Edmund Tattersall but the brand has stood the test of time. Edmond Mahony has led the company as Chairman since 1993 and in addition to its Newmarket headquarters continuing to be the preeminent marketplace from which to sell bloodstock in Europe, Tattersalls also has a thriving site at Fairyhouse in Ireland, a controlling interest shareholding in Inglis Bloodstock Auctioneers in Australia, the rights to hold jumps sales at Cheltenham racecourse, and a burgeoning online presence with Tattersalls Online.
Park Paddocks, Newmarket. © Tattersalls Ltd.
What are the various roles within a sales company like Tattersalls?
The operations of the sales are coordinated by the bloodstock sales, marketing, finance and property/site management departments in both the UK and Ireland.
What are the different types of Sales you might hold at Tattersalls?
In 2024 Tattersalls will operate sixteen sales from Park Paddocks in Newmarket and Tattersalls Ireland will conduct eight annual sales from its headquarters in Fairyhouse. Additionally, since 2016 Tattersalls Cheltenham have typically operated seven point-to-point sales from the months of November to May at Cheltenham racecourse, and since 2023 Tattersalls Online has held twelve monthly sales.
We have just had the October Yearling sales, why are these the most important in the Tattersalls sales calendar? (Book 1,2 and the average prices/stats produced this year up x% etc)
Tattersalls in October remains unrivalled as a source of the finest yearlings to be found in Europe, with the unrivalled success of its graduates on the racecourse driving the global demand for these bloodlines. This year’s sale will live long in the memory, for the sustained demand that we witnessed throughout Books 1, 2 and 3 of the October Yearling Sales. Amongst the numerous extraordinary figures perhaps the most remarkable statistic is that after an unprecedented Book 1 clearance rate of 88%, Book 2 produced three consecutive sessions which achieved clearance rates of 90% or higher and day 1 of Book 3 had a clearance rate of 88%.
Who selects the yearlings and then decide which goes to which sale (i.e. Book 1, or 2)
The recruitment for these sales commences as early as the foal sales, with nominations accepted until March. We have a team that grades the pedigrees ahead of our team of inspectors visiting stud farms from early May, and these will be concluded in late June following Royal Ascot.
We are fortunate to have an experienced team of inspectors in Europe and North America, and they liaise with both the vendors and the Director of Bloodstock, before determining which sales the yearlings are to be catalogued in. The aim ultimately is to place any yearling where it will maximise its potential in terms of sale price.
Lot 855. December Foal Sale. ©Tattersalls Ltd.
The million-dollar question - what do you personally look for in a yearling?
I first assess the general impression of the yearling, in terms of its athleticism and balance. I will be forgiving of potential faults depending on their severity, if they move well and are light on their feet. Having assessed their conformation, I then marry this up with their pedigree before making a sale recommendation.
Highclere have purchased 90% of their yearlings this year through Tatts what would have been the journey for one of those yearlings in the lead up to the sales ring until we see it at our Yearling Parade?
Those yearlings will have undergone a sales preparation ahead of being presented for sale, which typically commences at least eight weeks ahead of arriving at the sales. The yearlings are well handled, exercised on the horse walker and lunged as part of their conditioning and preparation. Generally, this means the majority are ready to go into pre-training to be broken and ridden away in the weeks immediately following their sale.
Lot 68.Frankel ex Aljazzi. Sold for 4.4 million guineas. ©Tattersalls Ltd.
The sales are long and physically demanding, and so they need to be prepared for these exertions. Once they arrive on site, they must make a good first impression and show themselves to best effect before they have their time in the sale ring.
What is the benefit of buying our horses from Tattersalls? Ie races qualify, quality of stock attracted to the sales. Being amongst the best in the game.
Ultimately the global demand for yearlings is driven by their success on the racecourse. The reason that Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale holds its status as Europe’s premier yearling sale is because year after year it produces the highest percentage of superior racehorses of any European yearling sale. Yearlings catalogued in Book 1 are eligible for the industry leading £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus scheme. All the yearlings catalogued in Books 3 and 4 of the October Yearling Sale and the Somerville Yearling Sale are eligible for the ever popular £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes which will be run over seven furlongs for the first time in 2025. They will also be eligible for the £100,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes run over six furlongs at the Newmarket July course.
What were the highlights of the October Yearling Sales? (Top lots, records)
Sustained demand throughout Books 1, 2 and 3 were the hallmark of the October Yearling Sales. Apart from the impressive clearance rates, a remarkable 16 lots realised 1,000,000 guineas or more in Book 1, with a colt by WOOTTON BASSETT selling for 4,300,000 guineas, the highest price for a yearling colt in the world in 2024 and a European record for a yearling colt. October Book 2 witnessed a colt by exciting young sire KAMEKO sell for 1,000,000 guineas, the first time this figure has been reached for a colt in this Book’s history. There were 93 lots that realised above 200,000 guineas at the three-day sale, figures that bettered all other European yearling sales other than October Book 1.
Were there bloodlines/sires that sold particularly well?
The hallmark of the European bloodstock sector is the number of both established and emerging elite stallions that bring buyers from around the globe for the Tattersalls October Yearling Sales. An impressive 11 stallions were responsible for the 17 Lots that realised 1,000,000 guineas or more in the October Yearling Sales, demonstrating the strength and depth of the stallion ranks in Europe. In terms of the new stallions, St Mark's Basilica’s first yearlings caught the eye of the buyers, with a top price of 850,000 guineas and 380,000 guineas average in Books 1 and 2 of the October Yearling Sales.
What attracted you personally to the sport?
I originally came from an eventing and hunting background and worked for horse dealer Vere Phillipps on the weekends when studying at university. It was here that I got my first taste of the bloodstock sector when helping him with the preparation of his national hunt stores for the sales. I always enjoyed watching horse racing and first came to the Tattersalls December Sales in 2009 to work for Hugo Lascelles, and from that moment on I was hooked and determined to make a career within the industry.
What gives you the biggest thrill? Be it seeing a yearling you select then go onto to win a big race, or selling a high figure horse through the ring from a yearling you selected.
I think it is fair to say I enjoy both these aspects equally. The high figure sale prices can be life changing for some, and being part of that in a small way is incredibly gratifying. Equally going on to see both these horses and your friends have success on the racecourse, whatever the level, is a particularly enjoyable/rewarding dimension of our industry.
The Sales Ring at Park Paddocks, Newmarket. © Tattersalls Ltd.
HIGHCLERE Thoroughbred Racing Sponsor at Newbury
Harry presenting Ollie Sangster with the winning trophy in the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes (listed) at Newbury
Highclere sponsors a race at Newbury each year and this year we were very proud to support the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes (listed) for two year old fillies over 7f on October 26th. It was won by Highclere trainer Ollie Sangster’s Ellaria Sand ridden by David Egan. Newbury is my home track and I have been a director there for many years so I’m very proud to support in this way.
Soprano heads stateside to KEENELAND
by Alex Smith
Soprano owners with Alex at Keeneland Racecourse
We had a highly enjoyable trip to Keenland to watch Soprano compete in the Queen Elizabeth the Second.
I was joined by a number of her owners for a few days in the quite stunning autumn sunshine of Kentucky. We spent two crisp mornings visiting the filly at the track Followed by a proper American breakfast!
We also visited two of Keeneland's Top studs in Claiborne and Coolmore's "Ashford Farm" Stud. The contrast between the modern facilities of Ashford Farm and the historic Claiborne could not have been more stark, but both in their own ways were absolutely Fascinating.
We also took the opportunity of visiting a bourbon distillery which again was full of history and naturally involved a tasting at the end of the tour!
We visited one of the top steak houses in Kentucky for dinner on Thursday night, where portions were typically American in size! On the Friday night we were hosted by the racecourse at a delightful dinner in one of the old houses where all the owners received a gift and several cocktails were consumed!
On the race day itself we were beautifully looked after by the authorities headed up by Lizzie Westerfield and her team who could not have been more helpful. We had a fantastic box overlooking The Winning Post and a rolling buffet that had to be seen to be believed. Soprano ran a highly credible race finishing second and earning over £100,000, which made the trip even more worthwhile.
Owners wishing Soprano luck
There is something very special about these trips where we can spend quality time together as well as having the excitement of racing abroad.
If you ever have the chance of getting on a trip such as this, I recommend that you do not hesitate to go.
Rolf’s Ramblings
by Rolf Johnson
Highclere brings together racing folk the world over. And takes them all over the world! Racing is a common bond. Ties are strong with India where they are planning their own international meeting in the spring. I experience the best of both worlds: I’ll share some of them.
Finally, the interviewer had had enough of my flashbacks to Barnsley F C’s memorable achievements, such as when we rejected Fergie (later Sir Alex Ferguson) as a wing half.
The man with the mike said, “Come on, what has really been the your greatest influence? India or horseracing?”
Actually the two have overlapped. The racehorse trainers I was privileged to work with were singular, instinctive, unfathomable men who left delusion to others: in Indian philosophy earthly affairs are illusory (Maya) - as if there’s anything on earth less real than Bollywood.
Horseracing was bequeathed to India by the British Empire. The Raj built over 120 racecourses; racing was part of the matrix of Empire. Nowadays reduced to nine, India’s burgeoning cities are suffocating them. Gandhi was an ‘anti’; he’d been a useless gambler, and his son was an even worse one. The Mahatma’s (great soul) influence persists in punitive betting taxes. We haven’t got our mahatma, yet we’re sliding down the same slope.
“The Indian influence was greater” slipped out - when commitment to both is not mutually exclusive. Bombay’s Mahalakshmi racecourse (1883) was named for the goddess of good fortune while my thesis on ‘Horseracing in India’ leant heavily on Rudyard Kipling. Gymkhana reports in the 1880s in Lahore’s Civil & Military Gazette speak to me of Kipling’s best work. He wrote: “Racing leads to the shroff (money changer) quicker than anything else. But if you have no conscience and no sentiments and good hands and some knowledge of pace and ten years’ experience of horses and several thousand rupees a month, I believe you can occasionally contrive to pay your shoeing bills!”
It was my job, to collect ‘shoeing bills’ working for a succession of training greats whose achievements are archived and chronicled – different threads, same genius. My privilege was to see them as personalities.
The first, Captain Ryan Price, sacked me after his best year, 1976. “Out of loyalty will you teach your successor the job?” he pleaded. How do you turn down a request like that? “Of course guv’nor”. I got a brief mention in his biography ‘Price of Success’: my ‘successor’ didn’t. He lasted a month - before his nervous breakdown.
One afternoon at Soldier’s Field, under the drowsy Sussex Downs, Ryan’s adopted son, a teenage hulk, brought his first ever girl friend to see ‘Father’. Ryan was stretched out on his Parker Knoll, snoozing under the Sporting Life. Son persisted: “Father, this is Diane and I want to marry her”. Ryan, with his visceral timing, lowered the Life, examined the object of his son’s desire and said: “Well brace yourself girl because he’s hung like a ****** elephant” before disappearing back under the paper - as heedless as when he landed on Normandy beaches. The young lady scarpered.
The day after I left Findon I started at Fyfield. Toby Balding was a ‘big man’ underestimated as a ‘big trainer’. As an amateur Tobes wanted to be a professional: as a professional he wanted to retain something of the amateur – in cricketing parlance, both ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Player’. Either way he strived to be ‘roguish’, but was far too affable to pull it off – consistently. I’d defy any other trainer to have a horse delivered from Canada, a broken-down sprinter – and get it to run sixteen times over fences. In the 1980-81 season Hopeful Answer won four and came second three times. Genius.
Visiting Toby one night in Andover Hospice, I said I’d had trouble with my rear. He looked up and mumbled, “Would you like one of my suppositories?” They were his last words.
David Elsworth trained the most famous of all British jumpers. Famed or hapless, all horses came alike to Elzee. Again I got a mention, this time in the Desert Orchid’s biography (name misspelled, five times! On the same page!). I was reminiscing with ‘Elzee’ only the other day. He’s the one trainer to have two horses immortalized in bronze on British racecourses – Persian Punch at Newmarket, ‘Dessie’ at Kempton. Elzee should be immortalized too – except that when they made him (pedigree unknown) they threw away the mould. Elzee’s biography would read like a novel - a Jilly Cooper novel.
Jimmy Fox at 81 is still out in all weathers, vaulting into the saddle with his new hips, training horses from a barn at Richard Hannon’s Herridge HQ. Jimmy rode Red Candle to defeat Red Rum in the 1973 Hennessy. He and Elzee were in league when Lieutenant-Col Ricky Vallance putatively held the licence at Bishops Canning, Wiltshire.
At Toby’s in the early 1980s I prized (promising a good home) a broken-down horse from his Derby-winning owner-breeder: Fortune Cookie, ‘Percy’, kick-started Elzee and Foxie’s training careers. He’d also been Derby favourite with his original guv’nor, Henry Cecil. Toby patched Percy up, won with him and when he broke down a second time, Foxy and Elzee resurrected him a third time. Much to the annoyance of the original owner, and the incredulity of his previous trainers, Percy found a ‘new home’ in the winner’s enclosure; first at Devon & Exeter and then Ascot. ‘Not off’ (33-1) at Devon, despite his jockey confessing he’d tried to “put him in the car park”, Fortune Cookie won in a canter: if a horse could make fools of maestros, what chance mere mortals?
Peter Haynes had the keys to Derek Kent’s Funtington, Sussex stables flung at him as Kent skedaddled to Hong Kong in 1986. Peter was brilliant horseman who, in all his years showjumping and as jumps jockey only ever broke a single finger – a little one. We made hay before he opted for a quieter life as chief starter – quieter until the day he endured six false starts to his Grand National (2007). Peter was big enough to live it down. Others wouldn’t let him.
An honourable mention I had to give to Brendan Powell who also rode Rhyme ‘N Reason (after technically falling) to win the 1988 Grand National for Elzee. My wife and I owned a decent hurdler, Whisky Grain. He was running at Chepstow while I was stuck at the Daily Express: my wife attended. Brendan won on ‘Whisk’ and when I got back from work my wife greeted me with, “That was so exciting, it saved our marriage.”
Every time I saw Brendan afterwards I’d grab him by the lapels: “You’re the b*****d that saved my marriage.”
Sam Hill represented the symbiosis between India and racing. If he’d trained from his native Nantwich he would have been top ten. Instead he ‘ruled’ racing in South India in the post-war years – the first trainer anywhere in the world to ‘go through the card’, at Ootacamund in 1969 Sam then ran the Palace Stud in what had been the elephant houses of the Maharajah of Mysore’s Summer Palace, bang in the middle of Bangalore. He bred winners for his son David to train in Madras, where Lady Jane Cecil’s son James McKeown now operates.
Sam’s wife became ill. I inherited responsibilities at the Palace and in his will Sam left me his Long Tom – a fearsome ‘weapon’ which would have brought tears to the eyes of animal activists – or an elephant - except its job was to startle horses, not to scar them.
Back home Phil Bull was my guru, employing me in a moment of desperation - first through the door when the editor of his ‘Racing Week’ died suddenly. Gone too, recently, Howard Wright: together we produced the pocket magazine.
Phil was as much anathema to racing’s bosses as he was an inspiration to his staff at Portway House, Halifax. We aspired to write with the brio and command of language of the great author of: “I am sufficient of an egotist (or conceited enough if you like) to believe my judgement is, in the main, sound and I am certainly not going to creep about in an atmosphere of vague indecision (usually taken for modesty) in the vain hope of concealing my fallibility.”
Had unthinking authority not denied Phil Bull’s incontrovertible logic the game would hardly be meandering in its current state of uncertainty.
From Timeform to India, where the Lutheran priest who welcomed me to Bihar in 1966 forecast six million deaths. Of course there was hardship in what is now and ever has been India’s most backward state. Noble individuals such as Marlon Brando (“call me Marlon”) came out on a mission - to deliver a fleet of helicopters for famine relief. He took umbrage when I pointed out that as we struggled to maintain a rickshaw on the ground, keeping a helicopter in the air would be problematical
Mr Brando returned to Hollywood in bit of a huff.
I returned to Halifax.
Bluestocking winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for Ralph Beckett and Rossa Ryan
It sounds so obvious: the more exclusions we make from competition the likelier we are to exalt the participants above their station; reputations erected without the scaffolding…no authentic standards of comparison. At his best the gelding Cirrus des Aigles gave dual Arc winner Treve 5lb and beat her in Paris. And he stretched Frankel, at level weights, at Ascot. Frankel then retired. Cirrus des Aigles ran another twenty-two times. He was the highest-rated horse that Frankel vanquished. He (never ‘it’) ran in twenty-seven Group One races, was unbeatable on heavy ground - except by Frankel.
No crowning moment then for Cirrus des Aigles in the Arc because he was gelded before he first ran. So was Goliath, so was Calandagan, so too Rebel’s Romance: how about an ‘Arc’ for geldings?
The race was initiated in 1920, given an evocative name with more élan than perhaps that of the Derby decided by the ‘toss of a coin’. The ‘Arc’ title was pinched straight from a claiming race though there was a toss-up of sorts with the alternative ‘Prix de la Victoire’ losing out. Internationally there are many more Derbies than Arcs, arguably devaluing the former. Would a gelding’s appearance devalue or undermine the Arc, all that history and tradition? Had Cirrus des Aigles won the Arc in 2012, the year he bowed to Frankel, would that have compromised Frankel’s reputation? Hardly. Instead the race went to Solemia an ordinary mare by the highest standards - of comparison. So the question of geldings participation at the highest level is being bandied around again – as if racing hadn’t enough ‘issues’ to be airing.
Though Sea Bird came perhaps too soon – occurring in my more impressionable days – leaving me to compare everything by his standards, in 2015 I also witnessed a result which still defies description. Aidan O’Brien saddled the first three home – none of them in the first four in the betting, all by Galileo. The interview room, at Chantilly (Longchamp was being redeveloped) afterwards was a little short of air as everyone – winners and journos gasped at what they had just seen. It wasn’t that O’Brien was lost for superlatives but the realization of witnesses that we shall never see the like again.
However, suffice to say that trio Found, Highland Reel and Order of St George have hardly taken one’s breath away at stud. Bluestocking comes from a Juddmonte family replete with winners. Future offspring will surely wing their way to the most upwardly mobile trainer in the British ranks, and Ralph Beckett will have lots more interviews to give. Maybe I too had better spend more time in my neighbour’s stables. And as Bluestocking stood to attention for God Save the King in the Longchamp winner’s circle I have to report the Frenchman with the beret failed to take it off.
Where Are They Now?
by Frances de Haan
This month on Where Are They Now? I have had a lovely update from Molly Craig who I met at the HIT Tattersalls sales last week. She told me all about Thunderous who she now looks after, he was unbeaten as at 2YO and a winner of the Dante Stakes (Gr 2) at York. Now he is enjoying his well earned retirement from racing:
Thunderous is enjoying his new life as a riding horse after retiring from racing. He’s been spending his days mostly hacking and going on pleasure rides, where he loves exploring new places. This winter, he’ll start taking part in some low-level dressage and he’ll soon be learning the basics of jumping.
Clodagh’s recipe
by Clodagh McKenna Herbert
CHICKEN LIVER PÂTÉ
METHOD:
1. Melt a knob of the butter in a frying pan and add the chicken livers. Cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. When the chicken livers are cooked, there should be no trace of redness in the meat. Transfer them to a food processor.
2. Add the brandy, garlic and thyme to the frying pan and deglaze by scraping up all the tiny pieces of meat and juices from the livers using a wooden spoon – the bottom of the pan is where the real flavour is! Add the brandy mixture to the food processor and blend with the livers. Leave to cool.
3. Slowly add the remaining butter to the cooled chicken liver mixture and mix until all the butter has blended. Fold in the caramelised onions. Transfer the chicken liver and onion mixture to a large dish and sprinkle the mustard seeds and chopped fresh thyme on top. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
Serves 10
Ingredients:
450g (1lb) butter (softened)
675g (11/2lb) chicken livers, cleaned
2 tbsp brandy
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp thyme
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the garnish
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tbsp thyme
Clodagh will be making something similar to this months’ recipe during her ‘Cookery Days’ event. She has limited spaces left, so make sure you don’t miss out and book your space through the following link.
Taittinger Moment
BILL YOUNG
This months Taittinger moment goes to new owner, Bill Young, for making the trip down to Newmarket and Wantage all the way from Ayr to see his new yearlings this week.
The last time he had been stood on the exact same spot on Warren Hill was in 1979 with Sir Henry Cecil!
Out and about with the Highclere camera
