*Rhapsody winning impressively on her debut at Great Yarmouth under Tom Marquand (Monday 7th October)*

By Harry Herbert

What an amazing September we have had, with plenty of Group level action.

Believing continued to add to her phenomenal Group 1 CV, with a superb second place in the Flying Five at the Curragh, denied once more by her nemesis Bradsell. She then went on to France and put in a great effort to finish third in the Prix de L’Abbaye (Gr 1). It has been excruciating to see her defy poor draws and come so agonisingly close in capturing that elusive Group 1 win that she so deserves. She remains one of our most successful fillies with six Group 1 placings to her name and over £500,000 accrued in prize money! It is so extraordinary that she is able to perform so consistently at the very highest level time after time. All being well she now heads to America for the Breeders Cup Sprint.

Soprano impressed in the Matron Stakes (Gr 1) in Ireland, putting in one of the best performances of her career to clinch third amongst some very stiff competition. As we speak she is settling in at Keeneland ahead of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (Gr 1) taking place this Saturday, with a not so meagre prize pot of $750,000!!

Our two year olds continue to fly the flag in the winners enclosure, with Orchid storming to victory in decisive fashion at Kempton. William Buick could not have spoken more highly about our filly, saying she ‘outclassed’ all the other runners in the field. Rhapsody winning impressively on her debut at Great Yarmouth on Monday. She demonstrated a hugely impressive attitude and is currently 20/1 for the Oaks!

With the flat season drawing to a close Jake, Emily and I have been busy at the yearling sales both in England and Ireland. We have already bought some very exciting yearlings and we cannot wait to showcase them to their new owners at our yearling parades which are just over a week away now. Please do watch online via all social media channels or on our website here.

On the track

By Frances de Haan

September has been another thrilling month on the track, with multiple international Group One action as well as a selection of exciting two-year-olds getting off the mark in style.

Believing has continued to add to her outstanding CV at the very top level. The Flying Five (Gr 1) at the Curragh saw a similar outcome to the Nunthorpe at York; where Believing put in a gritty performance, rattling home from an impossible position to finish second to Bradsell, beaten 1 1/4 lengths. Ryan was evidently emotional afterwards, which showed how agonising this second place was taking into account the bias of the wide stall draw. ‘She gave me everything’ Ryan said.

Believing then travelled over to France to run in the Prix de L’Abbaye, where she did everyone proud once more to finish third beaten 1 ½ lengths. She was full of her usual swagger before the race but remained composed and loaded well into the stalls. She broke well enough, but she struggled to go the early tempo and gradually got shuffled back. At halfway it looked like she had an impossible task on her hands, but to her great credit she battled to find a way through the wall of horses and finished with her usual rattle. With one more stride she would have even claimed second, but on this occasion she settled for third. A sixth Group 1 placing for our filly who has proven her versatility on both extremes of ground.

Soprano raised her game yet again, putting in one of her career best performances to place in a hugely competitive renewal of the Matron Stakes (Gr 1). She was only half a length behind the Irish Guineas winner Fallen Angel and a further length behind the now 4-time Group 1 winner Porta Fortuna, what amazing company to be keeping! Soprano broke well and Billy nudged her forward to slot in on the girth of Fallen Angel who set the pace. The tempo built quickly and once into the straight the race looked wide open with challengers coming from all sides. Porta Fortuna took up the running with a furlong to run and crossed Soprano’s path in the process. Billy switched to the outside and Soprano continued to pick up in good style. Ylang Ylang was closing fast but Soprano did just enough to hold on for third by a short head!

As you know, the plan is for Soprano to run in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (Gr 1) at Keeneland this Saturday where she will be racing for $750,000.

Orchid and Rhapsody have been flying the flag for the two-year-olds. Patience paid off and Rhapsody put in a dazzling performance to win in emphatic style on debut at Great Yarmouth this week. We were anticipating an educational run as William had been realistic with expectations beforehand. She looked the true professional throughout, relaxed in the preliminaries and loading smoothly into the stalls. A slightly dwelt start meant Tom found himself towards the rear of the field. Tom said she settled well and he was able to pick his way through the field. Upon reaching third he thought he would not catch the leaders, and we would have been pleased with a placing on debut however he felt she still had more to give and when asked she picked up showing an impressive turn of foot to hit the line and win by a length.

Rhapsody winning at Yarmouth

Winning owners of Rhapsody at Yarmouth

An extremely exciting first run under hands and heels only. What is more she beat some strong competition, denying Roger Varian trained Jowddah, who had to accept runner up spot for the third time in a row. Rhapsody is currently 20/1 in the betting for next year’s Oaks so she will certainly keep us dreaming through the winter!

Orchid also got off the mark in style to win impressively at Kempton. She literally shot out of the stalls and was soon in front but racing freely, so jockey William Buick allowed other horses to go ahead in order to give her some cover. At the cutaway William made a decisive move up the inside. It did not take long for Orchid to hit the front after which she powered down the home straight with her jockey only needing to ride hands and heels to the line. William was highly impressed by her performance, saying that not only had she shown plenty of speed, but that she would stay seven furlongs next season. He added that he felt she was well above average and should be considered for one of the Classic trials.

Orchid winning at Kempton

Winning owners with Orchid at Kempton

Drama has continued to show consistent form with an impressive win in a £70,000 Class 2 at Kempton earlier in September. Tom Marquand gave him a confident ride and he came through to take up the running on the stand side a furlong and a half out, running on well to hit the line a length clear of his rivals.

Aviemore continued winning ways with a dominant performance at Chester to win comfortably by 4 ¼ lengths. Ridden by Franny Norton he could not have been more impressive, relishing the very soft ground. Franny retires at the end of this season so it was great to have him on board Aviemore. We wish him well in his retirement.

Aviemore winning at Chester

Winning owners with Aviemore

WILLIAM DERBY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND CLERK OF THE COURSE, YORK RACECOURSE

By Frances de Haan

William Derby has been in charge at York since 2003 and following this year’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival we caught up with him for an exclusive interview with Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.

William, how did you first become involved with racing?

Horses and racing have been my interest, passion and now profession throughout my life. I was lucky enough to ride ponies and eventers as a youngster growing up on the West Sussex/Surrey border and then started riding out for a local jumps’ trainer Colin Weedon at Robin’s Farm (where Olly Stevens and George Baker subsequently trained) as a teenager. Colin trained a small band of jumpers including Cheltenham Festival winner Miracle Man. Dreams of taking out a conditional riding licence faded as I grew so after A levels, I went to Imperial College Wye to read Agricultural Economics and funded my university life riding out for the late Tom Kemp who used to have a gallop running alongside the busy M20 which made for interesting early mornings! Tom first had Bradbury Star in training before the horse moved to Josh Gifford’s yard. After graduating I joined PwC in Cambridge who had a number of racing and bloodstock clients in and around Newmarket and again, I rode out in Newmarket while doing my Chartered Accountancy qualifications which kept me sane! So horses and racing have really been in my blood all my life and I am so lucky to have a job where the horse is central to all we do.

How did you move from a life as a Chartered Accountant to running one of the top racecourses in the world?

While overseas with PwC a friend noticed an advertisement for the role of Head of Accounts at Ascot Racecourse and suggested it would be right up my street. I applied, flew home and enjoyed an exciting time at Ascot, initially in the Finance department, then as Commercial Director. While at Ascot I was lucky enough to study at Harvard Business School and took the opportunity while there to travel to many of the key US tracks. Also, while at Ascot, I was part of the team who worked alongside Harry on initially forming and running the Royal Ascot Racing Club and so my friendship and partnership with Harry and Highclere dates back some 25 years.

So how was the move from Ascot to York?

As with Ascot, I love working at York and my time in Yorkshire. The York Race Committee is so passionate about racing and give their time, talent and energies to York without remuneration and because they are passionate about flat horseracing and York. The team I work alongside at York share that commitment and dedication – for us all, it is so much more than a job; it is a vocation and a determination for York to be the best it can be and to continue to strive to improve and to stage the best racing we can. I live about 20 miles north of York on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park in a lovely spot with my family and retired racehorse and his Shetland pony companion.

How has York changed during your time?

In many ways the values and atmosphere at York has remained consistent with the focus on top flight flat racing and the passion of racegoers and all involved in the track. However, in terms of the investment in the facilities, the racing surface and the race programme there has been much that has changed.

The racecourse itself used to be a horseshoe shape when I first arrived. We connected the winning post to the back straight with the north bend which facilitated the track hosting Royal Ascot at York in 2005 and allow for the long distance races such as The Gold Cup. Then in 2008 we completed one of the biggest track development schemes in Britain laying 25 miles of drainage, a state of the art irrigation system and the service road around the inside of the track. This investment in the racing surface has continued since, to ensure we deliver the best stage we can for horses to perform on. Adrian Kay, our Head Groundsman, is one of the best in the world and Anthea Leigh is our exceptionally talented and experienced Racing Manager and Raceday Clerk of the Course.

In terms of facilities, we have made progress on our masterplan aimed at keeping York as one of the best racecourses in the world. The Ebor Stand is a fabulous facility which was being constructed when I arrived, the Northern End Development included a transformation of the paddock, pre-parade ring, Weighing Room and Champagne Lawns and the recent Bustardthorpe Development we recently opened hugely improves the facilities for our Grandstand and Paddock racegoers and we think is the most sustainable racecourse development ever undertaken.

In terms of the race programme, we have tried to upgrade our programme and have introduced over a dozen new stakes races and upgraded a dozen more Black Type races within the programme. Investment in prize money has continue to break records and is now at £11.2m which is 30% more than 2019. York is effectively a trust which has no shareholders and pays no dividends – everything we make is reinvested into prize money, facilities or the racegoing experience.

What about the horses you have seen run at York?

at York in 2006, to tremendous Dante and Ebor Festivals - we have seen some amazing horses and racing. Particular favourites include Sergeant Cecil’s popular wins in the Ebor, Lonsdale and Yorkshire Cup, the wonderful Sea The Stars winning the Juddmonte International under Mick Kinane, Stradivarius winning all six times at York and, of course, Frankel’s emotional and memorable win for Prince Khalid and Sir Henry in 2012.

Of course, there have been many Highclere winners during my time including Conquest and Approve in the Gimcrack, Royal Patronage in the Acomb, Telescope in the Great Voltigeur and Bonfire and Thunderous in the Dante. All have in common a lovely stamp of horse owned by enthusiastic, passionate and jolly owners who love their racing and enjoy their racedays!

How do you see the role of syndicate ownership in British racing?

Quite simply it is crucial, great fun and a tremendous way for people to enjoy competing at the top table of the sport – what other sport can allow you access to enjoy world class, life affirming racedays in the centre of the sporting action amongst fellow friends and partners? We continue to work closely with the team at Highclere and others to make their trip to York as enjoyable and rewarding as possible – from the legendary car park picnics at Ebor to boxes for the whole raceday atmosphere and experience for owners. We hope everyone involved has a fabulous day at York and we look forward to many more winners over the years to come!

Conquest winning the Gimcrack Stakes (2006)

Approve winning the Gimcrack Stakes (2010)

Bonfire winning the Dante Stakes (2012)

Telescope winning the Great Voltigeur (2013)

Thunderous willing the Dante Stakes (2020)

Royal Patronage winning the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes (2021)

Introducing a new Highclere Trainer for next season

Sir Mark Prescott

by Frances de Haan

PART 2 ‘a professional trainer’

Historic, immaculate, iconic, are some of the words you could use to describe Heath House stables (and their trainer too as it happens). The evening sunlight had intensified into a rich gold as the late summer sun sank lower in the sky, the only indication, other than the temperature of the tea pot, of the length of time I had been sitting captivated by Sir Mark as he regaled me with tales from a lifetime dedicated to racing.

Heath House stables and its stunning emerald green quad, with Warren Hill gallops in the distance

At 4.57pm as though by clockwork (ingrained by 54 years of the same regime), Sir Mark rose from his chair; ‘Now then Frances, I always look round the stables on the dot of 5pm, fifty horses and it will take an hour exactly, is that ok with you?’ It was more than ok, I could hardly believe my luck that I had been extended the invitation. I eagerly followed Sir Mark out of the front garden wicket gate that opened up directly onto a picturesque grass quad. The emerald green expanse formed the heart of the yard framed with the iconic green stable doors. We walked the deliberate path around the edge, (crucially not over the grass), towards the first of the fifty stables and their inhabitants who were awaiting inspection.

I have been to my fair share of evening stables, but this was in a league of its own. One of the assistants, was stood almost to attention, as though greeting a member of the royal family, or a senior military personnel. Quite apt really as it would not be too far-fetched to say Sir Mark is considered racing royalty and his martial running of the yard is one His Majesty’s army would be proud of. Like a well-oiled machine we arrived at the first stable and the door opened like a window of an advent calendar (albeit a very high end one!) revealing a glossy, and equally immaculate, equine athlete. ‘Good evening Sir Mark’, each of the stable lads greeted their boss, he replied each time, calling every one by their Christian name.

Sir Mark inspecting horses

Sir Mark feeling the legs

Sir Mark inspecting trot ups

Inspecting trot ups

Sir Mark proceeded to check each of the horses over carefully by hand, feeling down every leg for anything that might be amiss. Whilst doing so he reeled off their achievements; races run, won, placed, their breeding and who their owners were (including how long they had been with him). ‘Most the owners stay with me until they die, which is nice’. Hopefully nice that they are with him for such a long time, rather than being the cause of an untimely departure...! What was crystal clear, however, was that he left no stone unturned, there was nothing he did not know about every animal. Those early days with Mr Waugh had clearly made a significant impression in the way Sir Mark conducted his evening stables more than half a century on.

‘I always thought she would win it you know’

I was eager to know if much had changed during his 54-year reign at Heath House.

‘Well, it has changed enormously, but hopefully if Matt Dawson (who trained with Simon) and Fred Archer (Champion Jockey), and Tod Sloan (who changed how jockeys rode, he came over here, rode short and everybody started to ride like him). If those great figures were here today, they’d find their way round the yard. There are now treadmills, horse walkers and covered rides, but I hope we’ve put them out of sight, so the charm is still here.’

The pool with a statue of Pivitol featured in the centre

The treadmill

The charm very much was still there, I could practically see Mr Waugh walking round with a young Mark Prescott trotting along behind, similar in fact to the setup we found ourselves in at that very moment. Snapping back to present time I realised I had entered one particularly exciting stable, a son of Sea The Stars, Pledgeofallegiance. The horse who was solely responsible for ending the 28-year drought of Royal Ascot winners when landing the Ascot Stakes in June.

Pledgeofallegiance lands the Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot in June

I could not help but wonder about all the world class horses that had frequented these stables before him. Having trained over 2000 winners choosing a few remained a challenging task; among them was top level sprinter, and Sir Mark’s first Group One winner, Pivotal; speed merchant Hooray, Confidential Lady who dominated at Group level including the Prix de Diane. More recently, five-time Group One winner Alpinista, who won eight races in succession ending poignantly in what was to be her final swan song, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Sir Mark had trained her dam, Alwilda and her grand-dam, Albanova for owner breeder Miss Kirsten Rausing.

Before I could stop myself, the words came tumbling out ‘who would be your most memorable winner Sir Mark?’. I winced at the enormity of that question. Gracefully as ever, and as though it was not the hundredth time he had been asked that question, he replied: ‘There are two I think, Alpinista obviously, and then the first winner I rode Moneret when I was fifteen.’

Sir Mark regaled us with his exploits of Moneret in part one, ‘it is like your first kiss, no one ever forgets’, a theme that continued with Alpinista’s victory…

‘I think with Alpinista, what I remember about the day was, first of all, getting kissed by Jean Claude Rouget. Then Andre Fabre and all those French trainers, cueing up to be very kind, which wouldn’t be happening in England, we wouldn’t be doing that.

Jean Claude Rouget congratulated Sir Mark after Alpinista wins the Arc (October 2022)

‘Then Miss Rousing on the way back in the car, who had bred it [Alpinista] and had four generations in the family, she turned round and she said “I always thought she would win it you know”. That was like my mother, who always thought I would pass exams, she was alone in her fantasy. And the last thing was Morris, who has really been a tough work a day jockey. I said “Now then Luke, how was that?” and he said “the last two nights I watched 14 Arc de Triomphes, 14 on Friday night and 14 on Saturday night, 28. When we turned for home it occurred to me I was going better than any of those 28 I had watched!” So that is so lovely.’

Kirsten Rausing and Alpinista winners enclosure after winning the Arc (October 2022)

Sir Mark’s eyes sparkled and he could not help but smile as he reminisced, the emotion was palpable. 54 years of training, over 2000 winners and this was his favourite moment. Quite something to behold.

‘So I think Moneret was all me, and I think Alpinista, because you have been at it so much longer, I think it is more about other people. I think that is the difference between being young and old. It was a fantastic day.’

Sir Mark Prescott with owner/breeder Kirsten Rousing (right), jockey Luke Morris, handler Annabel Willis, Assistant Trainer William Butler.

We had reached the end of evening stables, exactly an hour had passed, by now I was not surprised that the timings were to the second. ‘Now then you will come back to the house for a drink won’t you?’. As we walked back across the yard towards Heath House, magnificent sculptures guarding the front entrance reminded me of other past winners. Sir Mark generously paused so I could take a photo of him stood next to Albanova, five Group One wins to her name, including an impressive CV of multiple Black Type victories.

Sir Mark and the Alborada statue (dual winner of the Champion Stakes at Newmarket)

‘If they’re not ready to pull out at 06:30am, they are dead’

Back in the garden and the tea had been replaced with glasses of pimms, as relaxing and genteel as the evening had been, we are all too aware that a trainer’s life is far from easy. It is a brutal and relentless timetable with no let-up, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

‘I’m up at half past three and I have a marvellous two hours without anybody annoying me. I get through all the emails, I get the papers, which come here at quarter to five. I then get the paper marked up with all of the races. Six, that is when I go out and William comes to see me. We feel any legs that we need to and then they pull out at 06:30am.

‘People always say to me, “what time do your staff start?”, and they’re always amazed when I say, “whenever they like, but if they’re not ready to pull out at 06:30, they are dead”. So some come in earlier, some come in late, some have a cup of tea and that’s fine, but you’ve got to be ready to go at 06:30am all year round, winter and summer.’

‘Do you ever nap?’ It felt like a rather personal question, on the face of it perhaps an odd one to ask in an interview, but in horse racing it is commonplace. How else do they survive such a long gruelling work day? Every trainer is different, and each one is adamant their nap routine is best. I was therefore intrigued to know what Sir Mark’s magic number was.

‘Yes, although I didn’t today, but normally at 13:27 I sit down and the weather’s on, which is terribly important if you’re a trainer. If she [the weather reporter] doesn’t start with East Anglia, I’ve missed it, I’m asleep straight away. I have about 40 minutes if I can. I might get 10, but I always have 5-10 minutes at lunchtime and then I’m fine. And I have very little sleep. I go to bed at nine to nine-thirty.’

The likes of Matthew Walker, author of the international bestseller ‘Why We Sleep’, and therapists the world over, would no doubt have something to say about this sleep routine. It pretty much concludes we are going to die a short and untimely death if we are not achieving eight to ten hours a night, making the phrase I commonly use ‘I can sleep when I’m dead’ rather chilling. Yet six hours seemed to be the perfect recipe for Sir Mark’s success and Margaret Thatcher famously only needed four.

Age is just a number and at 76 Sir Mark does not seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. Perhaps it was the supplementation of the ‘stiff backbone’ that means the foundation of his sleep (however short) is stable enough to build a successful training regime spanning over half a century. Is there another secret? A stiff whisky at bedtime perhaps?

‘I think as a racehorse trainer you’ve got to be ahead. Those trainers who drink and go out have got my undying admiration because how they do it, I don’t know. When I was first here there was a trainer called Tank Kirk and he had a very good head man called Bob Ruttle. He and Tank Kirk had been in the war together and they had this extraordinary relationship. Tank Kirk was wanting to work a horse with Mr Waugh. Mr Waugh said “go over on the Severalls and tell Mr Kirk we’re ready, the horses will join him”. Tank Kirk was a big drinker, and he was feeling very scratchy that morning, and he said to Bob Ruttle “I told you last night I wanted 12 horses out this morning, including Councillor of Trent. Where is Councillor Of Trent? One, two, three, four, you tell me where Councillor Of Trent is?!”, Bob Ruttle said, “you’re riding him”. “Well why the f**k didn’t you tell me!”.

On that note Sir Mark passed me his glass of pimms adding ‘and you better have this one too’. To be fair my alarm at 5.15am was practically a lie-in in comparison to Sir Mark’s 3.30am wake up call.

‘I hate children, I think most schoolmasters do’

Six hours sleep a night, since 1970 come rain or shine, winter and summer. What gave Sir Mark the renewed enthusiasm each season to keep at it?

‘I don’t know really. I often think for a faintly intelligent person, why I am interested? This is my 54th lot of yearlings. A hell of a lot isn’t it? How can you be still so driven and interested? I suppose it is like being like a school master really. The horses are pupils, the owners are the parents, the racecourse is the exam.

‘Every year you have got the new pupils, and they are always interested aren’t they. Most of them are stupid, some of them aren’t, but you can kick and push and get most of them through. I mean, this is a terrible thing to say, but we are on 23% winners to runners this year, we have trained more winners per horse than anybody in the country. You are more likely to have a winner here than anywhere else. So I take a pride in that.’

Sir Mark’s other school children have arguably been his Assistant Trainers, of which there have been many, from Pascal Bary to William Haggas (who Sir Mark famously thwacked on the head after climbing into his house, for oversleeping one too many times).

‘One of my first assistants was Pascal Bary in France, wonderful looking with a marvellous French accent. When he was here every girl in every yard was in love with Pascal and a succession of marvellous looking girls then came round looking for jobs.

‘Of course I was quite tough in those days, like Mr Waugh, when Pascal was off training in France he sent me Christophe Ferland, who is now doing very well in France. I think Christophe had been a bit tricky, so Pascal thought, ‘we will send him to the old boy’. So Christophe arrived, I rang Pascal and I said, “Now this Christophe has arrived Pascal, what am I to do with him?”. He spoke to me very slowly and he said: “I wish you to be as orrible to him as you were to me”, and I said, “well I am not as horrible as I used to be”, so he said, “well you must try very hard”.

‘I have had 13 assistant trainers, they all love beating me of course. But what they forget, is that the only other results I look at other than my own is theirs, to see how they are doing. And I really enjoy seeing them do well.’

William Butler is the 13th and current assistant trainer, and now more recently a business partner. Sir Mark would describe William as ‘long suffering’; whereas the previous 12 stayed two years a piece, William is currently completing two decades in the role.

‘Why did you stick with William?’

‘I thought he was the best out of the ten or twelve I had had up until then.’

‘Have you ever told him that?’

‘No’

Although Sir Mark didn’t quite say it in words, the length of time William has been assistant speaks volumes. It is a unique relationship and one integral to the smooth running and success of Heath House.

‘So why William?’

‘I think Mr Waugh more or less gave me this place, and I thought I would like to give somebody a shot who probably wouldn’t have one in the normal event of things. I think, ultimately, I would like to repay Mr Waugh.’

It is safe to say Sir Mark Prescott has repaid Mr Waugh tenfold, he has seamlessly adapted and modified Heath House to stay ahead of the game in modern training practices and yet has preserved the heritage, history and charm of a 185-year-old training establishment. Moving with the times is critical in sport, but it is not something that would perhaps come willingly to most of a certain generation, particularly those in horse racing, a sport known be a slow, unending metamorphosis. Sir Mark’s training facilities might be ‘up to date’, but there is plenty that is traditional about Sir Mark that will not be changing any time soon. For one he still drives a 24 year old white Subaru and, without fail, he is turned out in his trademark attire of shirt and tie, complete with collar bar. Rumour has it that he does now have an ipad and a mobile phone, although he always rings on no caller ID.

As one of the longest serving trainers in Newmarket, with a wealth of knowledge at his fingertips, I was intrigued to know what would the 76-year-old man would say to the 19-year-old boy from Devon that turned up in Newmarket with nowhere to stay all those years ago?

‘I would say you have got to love it and you have got to love training horses. You have got to love training horses so much that you would prefer to live in a chicken hut than not train them. You hear people say, “I only want to train if I have good horses”, well then don’t do it.

‘Getting the best out of the not so good ones is endlessly interesting. If you have a good natured one it is a relief, because instead of you having to carry it, it does it for you. But I do not get the same satisfaction as I do out of those moderate ones. The ones that scramble home initially and then it wins three. It then goes to the sales and it sells quite well and you have carried it every inch of the way. There is a big thrill in it. Schoolmasters are the same, those good schoolmasters, they get a big thrill out of the little rat who wasn’t very bright and wasn’t very cooperative, but you managed to fire him and get him interested, and you see him do well.

‘I would have been a good schoolmaster, although I hate children, but I think most schoolmasters do.’

The ‘good old days’

For good or for bad Schoolmasters are no doubt a huge influence on children’s lives, as Mr Waugh was for Sir Mark, and as Sir Mark has been to his 13 assistant trainers. But as Sir Mark spoke about Mr Waugh’s character, it became clearer why he would have made sure he toed the line during his early days at Heath House.

‘Mr Waugh was ramrod straight, absolutely unmoveable. If he said something, then that was it. He was terrifying. The world would have to end before he was refused. He’d had a bad war, he'd been shot up at Diepe and Dunkirk. He only ever said to me one thing about it and that was, and it was a very colourful phrase, “my experiences in the war, Mark, have been a thief of sleep in the night”. Very articulate isn’t it, a chilling phrase.’

‘I think he was beset with survivors’ guilt, his friend had died, and he’d come back.’

The conversation then took an unexpected personal turn. It turns out Mr Waugh was not the only influential figure in Sir Mark’s life to have been impacted by The War. As it happens Sir Mark’s stiff upper lip could well have been established long before he broke his back and spent 18 months in hospital.

‘My dad was a Japanese prisoner of war. He was two and a half years on the Burma Road, and he came back weighing six and a half stone. My mother always said that “you never knew your father”, because they were married before the war, and he was so changed by it when he returned.

‘He was 50 something and I was 10 or 11 when he died, and then she married Daniel, my stepfather, about two years later. He was a great man. You’re lucky if you have a good stepfather because you don’t owe each other anything, you just like them because you like them. Famously when I was about 17 or 18, I said, “by the way you’re talking to me, anyone would think you’re my father!”, which was about the unkindest thing I could think of. He said, “there are very few things in this life I’ve been spared, but being your father is one of the few that I haven’t. Beat that!”.

‘I was lucky because dad was difficult, and my stepfather was fiery, so when I came to Mr Waugh and he frightened the life out of everybody else, I didn’t find him quite as frightening.’

The more I learnt about Sir Mark, the more I began to recognise that the common theme of ‘luck’ which flowed like a river through his life, and to which he attributed his good fortune - and even mishaps - had an extremely sad beginning.

‘I had a brother and a sister and they both died. So poor mother outlived two of her three children, which she made no fuss of at all, but it must have been awful. I was in the middle. Jane was younger, she got Pneumonia and people died of that in those days. Michael was killed climbing Snowdon in one of those schoolboy accidents. Mum belonged to a generation where you were not allowed to complain. If the soup was filthy, and it was hot she’d say, “never mind darling, it’ll be warming” and if it was filthy and stone cold, she’d say “never mind, it’ll be nourishing”. But you weren’t allowed to say it was filthy.’

I was so taken aback by the matter of fact manner in which he revealed these tragic events - a testament to his character. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His mother lost two children and her husband, and then nearly a third in a riding accident. It is clear to see from where he gets his unwavering constitution.

‘When she was old, she lived in London and was walking along the road when the IRA bombed The Queen’s Lifeguard in 1982. She was just the other side of the wall and was blown off her feet. Because I knew she was right by that, I rang her up and said, “mum, are you alright? I’ve just seen what’s happened” and she said, “oh my darling, nothing quite this exciting has happened since the blitz!”’

Asking about his success in horse racing off the back of these life changing events seemed quite trivial. But then I realised, this perhaps was the whole point, the reason he did everything to the best of his ability, as though it was his last day, but without losing sight of the fact that at the end of the day “if a horse lost, it all just didn’t matter”.

This may be why he loves coursing and in particular the cultural art of bull fighting. He has an appreciation for the fragility of life. One story that resonates strongly is behind one such photograph that Sir Mark took of a young man looking down the camera lens in the eye of a bull moments before it killed him. As the bull charged and the horns pierced his body, he muttered: ‘He has killed me. He has killed me’.

‘The fascinating thing about that was that he didn’t say ‘oh god’ or ‘I’m injured’, he knew ‘he’s going to kill me’. It’s fascinating, in that split second, to have that reaction; you’re so focussed on the sport, but to have that reaction in death which you’re not really prepped for. ‘He has killed me’.

Sir Mark talking me through his photos he had taken over the years of bull fighting. The photo I refer to is third from the right bottom row.

Perhaps it was the night was drawing in, but it suddenly felt chilly. I noticed the time and realised I had to get back to the Jockey Club rooms for our owners’ supper. Rounding up the interview I asked:

‘What would your advice be to a young trainer?’

‘Get lucky. And then if you have got the ability, you will be fine. If you haven’t got the ability, you will sink. But if you don’t get lucky you can’t get started. You have got to get lucky’.

Of course it was luck, did I need to ask?

‘How would you like to be remembered?’

‘I know how I would like to be remembered. As a professional trainer. That’s all.’

Those two words ‘professional trainer’ encompassed a lifetime of hard work, grit, determination and ultimately profound international success. Sir Mark Prescott has made racing in Newmarket and the world stage so much richer; one might say he has become the fabric of Newmarket and his wit, charm and immaculate work ethic (including his attire) has been common place on the Heath each morning for over half a century. Sir Mark has been described in so many ways, a legend, a hero, a true gentleman. Perhaps to use his own words ‘professional trainer’ encompasses them all.

a change in the seasons

By Molly White

As we transition into October and the bustling flat racing season begins to wind down, the excitement of the National Hunt season truly starts to build. With the official season starting earlier this year in April, the real superstars of the sport aren’t seen until October time onwards and as the days get shorter (and colder!), it’s certainly something to look forward to.

As the flat racing season winds down and the National Hunt side of the industry begins to get busier, my internship with Highclere sadly comes to an end. I feel incredibly fortunate to have met so many wonderful people throughout this journey, and I’m deeply grateful for my time at Highclere. It has been a true honour to be part of a team dedicated to some of the finest thoroughbreds in the sport and their owners.

The experience has been invaluable, offering me a unique insight into the world of top-level racing and the hard work and passion that drives it forward. From the behind-the-scenes operations to the thrill of race days, every moment has been a learning opportunity.

Thank you to everyone at Highclere for making this chapter such a rewarding one. I’m excited to carry the lessons and skills I’ve gained into the next phase of my career in racing.

Rolf’s Ramblings

by Rolf Johnson

I saw one Parisian turfiste wearing a beret at the 103rd Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. What was once de rigeur for patriotic Frenchmen has fallen out of fashion: not that you’ll see many flat caps at Royal Ascot though the tv show ‘Peaky Blinders’ has resurrected a penchant for flat caps elsewhere in domestic racing.

Back in Paris - you never forget your first. I remember being there for his only defeat (in the Grand Criterium, now the Qatar Prix Luc-Lagardere) touched off by a stable companion, Grey Dawn, who was considered unbeatable at the time. They don’t make ‘em like the horse that captivated me for racing, Sea Bird, certainly not after his dam was sold for £100 to a local butcher in Normandy. Her female forbears in five generations had produced two winners, one over hurdles and one under Pony Club rules. They come in all shapes and sizes so they say – but they don’t come from much odder origins than Sea Bird: with that background the horse of a lifetime, even of all time, might have been gelded…disqualifying him from all the top races he won.

My first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the 43rd, in 1965 was to witness Sea Bird’s victory, the one which made him the highest-rated twelve-furlong performer of all time. Sea Bird sired, among many other top horses, the highest-rated middle-distance female of all time, Allez France who won the 1974 Arc. Oh and incidentally, Sea Bird won the Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George: I say incidentally but to the French they were incidental to his stunning Arc victory.

I wish the weather had been as good last Sunday for the 103rd Arc as it was back then but grey skies made for capture by the French Impressionist painters (Camille Pissarro beat Henri Matisse in the Lagardere) and morbid rain that never emptied menacing clouds, meant that those who declared hoping for ground which would allow all participants something other than a traditional Longchamp mudlark, were forestalled; though to be fair the ground made little difference to the results

I haven’t been to all the Arcs since ’65, by any means, but I would place this renewal won by the filly Blue Stocking near the top of my list – if not for purely professional reasons. Blue Stocking’s trainer Ralph Beckett is a near neighbour and when I asked him about the race earlier in the week, stood in Blue Stocking’s box where the filly paid attention to her hay and not to us, the most he would proffer was: “It doesn’t appear as strong an Arc as last year.”

Twelve months ago Beckett was second with Juddmonte’s Westover. “I grew up watching Juddmonte’s Rainbow Quest and Dancing Brave (1985 and 1986) win the Arc. That’s how extraordinary this was for me today,” he ventured of Blue Stocking’s clear cut success, the record seventh in the race for the Juddmonte silks.

Never one to overstate his case Beckett attributed Blue Stocking’s success to “Her well-being. She’s a real professional which makes my job that much easier. For a moment I thought it was Westover all over again.”

Beckett all but had the Arc won last year before Ace Impact overhauled Westover. This year’s race went according to plan and there were no hard luck stories though Aidan O’Brien bemoaned the slow pace which he said had compromised the chances of third-placed Los Angeles.

“Blue Stocking kept finding for Rossa (Ryan)” said Beckett. “She just doesn’t give in easily. The ground (fast side) wasn’t in her favour in the Juddmonte International at York and you have to take your hat off to Goliath who beat her fair and square in the King George.”

I shall have more to say about geldings and Goliath in particular but without her Ascot conqueror in attendance Blue Stocking was not an unpredictable winner. After all she was returning to the scene of her most recent victory in the Prix Vermeille (Gr1). The Vermeille, over the same course and distance last month, was where Aventure also chased Blue Stocking home –the result replicated in the Arc. Déjà vu?

“We had the same plan as worked in the Vermeille,” said Beckett while youthful Rossa Ryan, surely a future champion jockey (he rode more winners than anyone in the 2023 calendar year), expressed himself with the inspiration of the moment. “I was certainly confident beforehand,” he said. “But not confident enough to tell anyone.”

120,000 euros may seem a lot to enter a race but with Blue Stocking missing the cut off date for entries for the Arc by just two days, that’s the amount Juddmonte were prepared to stake. That’s how much it means to ‘the future of the breed’ for the home of Frankel and Kingman. Only the best will get the date with Blue Stocking.

Although Coolmore were for once forestalled, three representatives of one of their band of sires, Camelot, took part – including Blue Stocking. And later on in the card another of their new ‘hope of the side’ stallions, Justify (sire of City of Troy) was the sire of Ramatuelle winner of the Prix de la Foret, seventh Group One race of the day.

And yet the day clouded over somewhat when Believing, catching the leader Makarova and getting closer to Bradsell than ever before, found the post in the Prix de l’Abbaye coming too soon. The penny has dropped, with me at least, given that I’d always forecast that the Abbaye would be her coronation, that Believing could be best suited by six furlongs. Even over Longchamp’s one thousand metres she might have got up for, after being taken off her feet from the start, she finished fastest of all. Indeed, but for being hampered as she picked up, she would at least have caught her old adversary Bradsell. The score with Makarova is four-two in Believing’s favour – the other time Makarova finished ahead being in last year’s Champion Sprint at Ascot. Thoughts must turn to Believing for that Group One race – she is a more developed filly than the one who made no show last year. It would be her ninth race of the season; she seems indestructible.

What about the Arc ‘if onlys’? Goliath and City of Troy were back in their stables; City of Troy gearing up for the Breeders’ Cup, Goliath a non-combatant due his gelding status.

Perhaps inspired by the recent Paris Olympic Games the President of France Galop, Guillaume de Saint-Seine, caught the mood of the day when pronouncing the two-day meeting the “Olympics of racing”. He was quick to point out that ever since official world rankings were introduced in 2015 the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has consistently been at the summit of world racing.

Japan just cannot seem to punch its weight. Prize money in the Orient outstrips most countries in the world but the three arrows they fired this time: their legendary jockey Yutaka Take on Al Riffa, first runner for Aidan O’Brien’s son Joseph; Japanese-bred but Irish-raced Continuous with dual Arc-winning French master Christophe Soumillon aboard; and the chestnut colt Shin Emperor, a two million euros Sales purchase, who back in Japan has won most of that back in prize money, could not get involved. That’s thirty-two goes for the racing mad nation and inscrutable as they are the massed ranks of Japanese fans and media representatives never got near to raising a cheer.

Which brings me to the point of whether this was this year’s ‘greatest race’. I would have reservations: will somebody tell me who said: “Without standards of comparison we imagine ourselves limitless”? Some clever dick might computerize how Sea Bird would have demolished this latest renewal but I’d be at least as interested in how he would have played against the geldings who weren’t allowed to run. The attendance of Goliath who easily beat Blue Stocking in the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes; Calandagan within a length of City of Troy in his first Group One at York finishing ahead of Blue Stocking; Iresine winner of the Prix Foy Arc Trial; and Rebel’s Romance with seven Group Ones on his CV, would have been more than justified on ratings and on ability. The first of the aforementioned trio are rated joint third best racehorses in the world in the Longines rankings behind Laurel River in the USA and City of Troy.

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

I have had an update from Helen who now owns Mantra.

Mantra - Lily arrived with me 3rd July 2024, the minute she stepped off the lorry, I fell in love with her. She has settled well with her new Welsh pony field mates, and she will spend the rest of 2024 being a horse and enjoying time with her new herd friends. I have registered her with ROR, and hope in the future to compete with her in dressage, showing and perhaps Side Saddle. Lily is such a beautiful sole, she has given me hope, after a tough 4 years personally, that i can enjoy riding again.

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Clodagh’s recipe

by Clodagh McKenna Herbert

French onion soup with cheesy croutons

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.

2. Place a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, turn down the heat to low and stir in the onions. Cover and leave to cook for 10 minutes, until soft,

3. Next stir in the brown sugar and garlic and let the onions brown uncovered and slightly caramelize, stirring every few minutes until they become a deep golden colour. Stir in a teaspoon of the dried oregano, fresh thyme or rosemary. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4. Pour in the beef broth and allow to cook for a further 30 minutes.

5. To make the cheesy crouton sprinkle the gruyere cheese on top of the slices of sourdough bread and pop under a grill to melt.

6. Serve the onion soup in heated bowls and place the cheesy croutons on top.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

100g butter

8 white onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp dried oregano, fresh thyme or rosemary

900ml good quality beef broth

For the cheese croutons