APRIL 2025
Cavolo Nero adds another win to his tally when storming to victory at Goodwood last weekend
By Harry Herbert
Well what a busy and exciting time of year this is with breeze up sales a plenty and our horses beginning to make their seasonal debuts. It’s also at this time of year that we have to start thinking about Royal Ascot plans for those that might merit going there. Every horse heading to the Royal Meeting needs a cunning plan of some sorts and of course much can go wrong between now and then! Our record at the Royal Meeting has been terrific and something I’m very proud of. We have raced over 100 horses there and some 50% of those have won or been placed which is amazing. This I’m sure is a result of careful planning and not running horses that we don’t feel can be competitive. For those too low in the handicap we need to squeeze in an extra run if we can to get their ratings up to the necessary historical level but not too high so it’s a delicate balancing act!
Jake is currently at the Arqana breeze up sale in Deauville where he bought Centigrade last year. The short list is being drawn up as we speak so watch out for a launch email next week if we manage to find a star!
I am also delighted to announce Highclere’s new partnership with the prestigious Albatross Club, which brings together high end luxury events and experiences. I very much look forward to the exciting opportunities this new venture will bring for both organisations.
With my best wishes,
Harry Herbert, Chairman
HORSE IN FOCUS
SOTTSASS (FR) x AMERIQUE (GER)
Sottsass x Amerique (b f 2023)
Harry and Jake have been busy at the Tattersalls Guineas breeze up sale and have added three new fantastic horses to the Highclere string. One of these is this stunning daughter of Sottsass who breezed 17th fastest out of 197 in the catalogue - the stats speak for themselves! She has an impressive pedigree as Sottsass is a champion sire who won the Arc de Triomphe and the French Derby. We are thrilled she will be trained by George Boughey who has a phenomenal track record with our breeze up filly’s having trained the likes of Cachet and Believing, the bar has been set high!
There is only one share remaining in this striking filly so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to get involved.
On the track
By Emily Scott
Things really ramped up in the month of April as the turf racing began in earnest. The most notable performer this month has undoubtedly been Cavolo Nero who graduated from two outings at Southwell earlier in the year to the hallowed ground of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile at their season opening Craven Meeting. He ran a lovely race in defeat over a trip slightly short of his optimum and the winner, Power Fizz, was probably as well handicapped as he was. Trainer James Ferguson has always had a lot of faith in this horse, and he was keen to turn him out again relatively quickly to get some more vital turf racing experience into him ahead of some potentially bigger summer targets. He duly obliged in a mile handicap at Goodwood, coming from last to first to win quite snuggly under a patient ride from Ray Dawson. Ray was full of praise for the horse and James was quick to start talking about Royal Ascot aspirations. He went up 7lbs for the win and will need to go up a couple more to ensure a run in the Britannia Handicap, but luckily time is still on our side and the dream is very much alive!
A horse with a similarly progressive profile, with two wins from four runs, is Orchid, trained by George Boughey. She ran three times as a two-year-old; beaten on debut by the subsequent 1000 Guineas 4th Elwateen and winning impressively on her third start when dropping back to 6f furlongs. She returned to action on the all-weather in early April and overcame a wide draw to win comfortably. She is an exuberant type who does wear her heart on her sleeve and this enthusiasm will need channelling for her to continue to progress as she steps up in trip. She understandably took that race quite hard so has been given lots of time to bounce back by her trainer. We will look forward to seeing her back out on the track later this month all being well.
We were all delighted to see the 3yo filly Nightbird achieve a much-deserved victory recently at Wolverhampton on her second start of the season. She was placed three times as a two-year-old and has never been out of the money when running over the minimum trip. She wintered very well and is a bigger stronger model now, so I hope she can progress from this win, which should boost her confidence. She is a very straight forward filly to train, and Simon Crisford hopes to see her running regularly for her owners this season. She could be seen as early next week in a 5f handicap at Yarmouth.
It's never a surprise to see sprinters get better with age and we have a strong group of older horses this season. Drama, trained by James Ferguson, is a great example. He was successful as a two-year-old and progressed well last season, winning twice and climbing 8lbs in the handicap. We all felt a little flat after his seasonal return at Newbury, where the ground wasn’t suitable, so it was great to see him bounce back with a fine third at Southwell a couple of weeks later. He is such a cool customer in and around the yard, but can really turn on the turbo when he feels like it and James is hopeful he can bring his owners plenty of excitement this season.
Jungle Land is another older horse who has been busy this spring, running three times in as many weeks. He was denied a go at the big money on Good Friday having been balloted out, but George Boughey seems to have found the key to him and I’m sure there’s more to come after a little freshen up. Another horse who seems to have turned a bit of a corner with George is the enigmatic Tolerance, who went very close at Leicester recently and in doing so saved himself a trip to the Horses In Training Sale! He’s still a big raw horse who has looked a slow learner so far, but sometimes those types of horses can be the biggest improvers, so he will given a chance to fulfil his potential over the next few months.
The penny looks to also be dropping with the handsome 3yo gelding Paragon, who looked fairly clueless on three starts as a two-year-old and has started life in handicaps off a very workable mark of 59. He made his seasonal return at Windsor this month and only got rolling very late under Oisin Murphy to get up for third. He got intimidated when crowded by horses and only ran on when he saw some daylight. Andrew has always seen plenty of potential from his homework, so hopefully his confidence can continue to build as he gains more racecourse experience.
We had the excitement of seeing three well-bred and well-regarded three-year-olds make their debuts in the space of two days last week. All three showed huge potential for the future and have come out of their races in good shape. Influential is a strapping son of Wootton Bassett who was green on debut at Yarmouth but still ran on well into fifth. Roger Varian was delighted with the introduction and is looking forward to seeing how he progresses with racing. Respond is an equally imposing son of Ghaiyyath who ran on strongly into fourth position and galloped out upsides the winner. He will be one to watch next time out when he will undoubtedly be sharper for the experience. Pergola is a stunning daughter of Wootton Bassett who grew and grew last year. Her trainer William Haggas opted to get her out over a mile knowing she would need further in time, so it was no surprise to see her get out sprinted in a slowly run race before running on in the closing stages. She should leave that debut well behind her next time as she steps up in trip.
The horse we all hoped would take advantage of his handicap mark on his seasonal return was Merchant last weekend at Newmarket. Tom Marquand rode a patient race, and it ended up taking him longer than he thought to get this big son of Teofilo into top gear. He ended up being beaten a length into third position leaving William, and Tom, a little dumfounded! It’s a long season ahead and this was still a lovely run full of promise from this young horse. We could see him out as early as next week at York and the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot is very much on William’s radar.
Tis’ the Breeze up Season
by Frances de Haan
Jake and Harry observing the breeze ups!
Whilst the turf season has been well under way providing plenty of excitement on the track, Harry and Jake have also been working feverishly behind the scenes at the breeze up sales. Highclere have an exceptional track record of success from these sales, with the likes of Cachet, Believing and Spycatcher who have produced multiple Classic and Group victories between them both at home and on the international circuit.
I caught up with Jake after a fruitful few days at the Tattersalls Craven breeze up sale. He and Harry added two stunning fillies to the Highclere ranks: a Farrh filly and a Starman filly, who will hopefully continue the proven record of success from this sale.
What in particular attracts you to the Craven breeze up sale?
‘The Craven in principle has been a sale where you are more likely to get an animal that'll be more precocious and who will likely run up to that mile distance.
We had to approach the sale a bit differently to what we have in previous years, but I just think there are some really lovely horses and that sale has just been tremendous at producing top class horses over the last few years. It has produced more Group 1 winners than any other Breeze Up sales so you know, we have to be at the Craven.
We know that the vendors support it very very well with great stock and to be able to buy out of that sale gives us a chance of getting hold of those lovely lovely horses that we've been successful with in the past.’
What was it that stood out for you regarding the Starman filly you purchased?
‘This year it was incredibly competitive and very hard to buy horses, but we managed to get a really nice Starman Filly that finished very fast in her gallop out and was very strong. She's by a first season sire out of a very good Argentinian race mare interestingly, which is probably why we got some value there. She was a very very good race mare - she was a multiple Group winner and a very good performer in her own right and we're excited to get hold of her.
It's a very tough market but she was a beautiful filly and a really good breeze and she looks like she'll be a six furlong filly for this year.’
Moonshine (Starman x City Glam b f 2023)
Similarly, what did you like about the Farhh filly that meant you just ‘had to have her’?
‘We had to duck and dive and weave a bit on the rest of the sale as we were outbid on a lot of horses, but there was this Farhh Filly that was very appealing to us. She actually probably fitted more into the middle distance category, which again is probably why we were able to buy her, because the bulk of the market was focussed on the Ascot run in and the more precocious horses. She is a filly with a lot of quality, she really stood out in terms of what she was capable of doing in her breeze for what type of filly she's going to be in the future.’
Radiance (Farhh x Sailing b f 2023)
The Arcana Sale in Deauville also has a reputation for producing good stock, for example Centigrade who was a recent addition to the Highclere string last year. What is about this sale that appeals to you?
‘In Arcana, the horses tend to be from a more varied breeding stock - so there's fast horses, Classic mile distance horses and there's middle distance horses - we've got a broader spectrum.
The sale comes later in the year which is why the middle distance horses tend to be more likely to head to that sale rather than earlier in the year at the Craven. Those horses that are due to go over a bit more of a trip are given a bit more time to get through their breezes without being pushed too early to get through their season. That means that the sale on the whole has a broader scope of horses that we're able to bid on.
At the Craven, our shortlist might be 20-25 horses predominantly based around more precocity and speed, whereas in Arcana, we may have 20 odd with precocity and speed and 20 odd of the middle distance. Therefore, we get a broader spectrum of distances that we can dip into and the horses that we have bought there in the past have all been later maturing autumn types, like Centigrade last year who is by Too Darn Hot. He ran fantastically well when he won in very impressive style at the end of the last season. He has fantastic form lines with some of the Guineas favourites, he unfortunately got injured earlier on this year, but he will come back.
It is that type of horse that we're trying to find in Arcana where there are more to choose from out there where there are more to choose from than at the earlier sales at Craven and Doncaster.’
What is different about the breeze ups compared to the yearling sales where Highclere purchase the majority their stock?
‘I think the breeze ups are performance led sales and a little bit of additional data is very helpful when you're making selections. Truthfully, the horses that have come from breeze ups have been in the yearling sales and so they've come out of that yearling sale pool. It's a much smaller, narrower field at the breeze ups so in principle we only tend to get hold of three or four horses because the market's very hot.
There's a small number of horses available for us to purchase, so we won't be able to get the same volume out of the breeze ups ever in a given year. We're always looking for Highclere to get ten or so yearlings plus 2-3 breeze ups, that's about the balance we'd be able to achieve.
We wouldn't be able to buy ten breeze up horses in a given season, so there's simply not the numbers there to do that. Whereas at the yearling sales, we have the scope of Book 1, Book 2, Goffs, Doncaster, sometimes even Arcana - we have a much broader scope - and we've bought tremendous horses over the years out of yearling sales. Harbinger was a yearling purchase, Soprano, Royal Patronage, these are all yearling purchases that we've acquired, and we've had as much success there as we have had at breeze ups so we have to cover it all.’
ALBATROSS X HIGHCLERE THOROUGHBRED RACING
Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and the Albatross Club are thrilled to announce an exciting new partnership that will bring together the best of both worlds: world-class horse racing ownership experiences and luxury lifestyle, events and travel services.
Highclere Thoroughbred Racing owners will be able to tap into Albatross Club’s prestigious network, gaining access to their exclusive luxury lifestyle services including sport, travel, events and concierge services. This partnership ensures both organisations offer a world of unmatched opportunities to connect through golf and shooting dates, racing breaks, and hosted events at London’s finest private clubs.
“The Albatross Club, Racing breaks and associated companies offer our owners an array of high quality events and services that enhances their ownership. We also look forward to some of their members joining our syndicates.” Harry Herbert.
To discover more about Albatross please contact Flora Gibbs on flora@albatrossclub.co.uk
The racehorse sanctuary and rehoming centre
The charity’s mission is to offer ex-racehorses a new life after racing.
As one of the leading organisations in this field, our work is vital for the welfare of ex-racehorse thoroughbreds. We provide a lifeline for those needing to adjust to life after racing.
After retiring from racing, these thoroughbreds can face an uncertain future. That’s why The Racehorse Sanctuary &Rehoming Centre is committed to offering them a safe haven and a chance of a new life after racing.
Thoroughbreds thrive with purpose, so we aim to retrain many of these former racehorses to begin fulfilling new careers as eventers, show jumpers, beloved companions, or happy hackers. However, the horses that are rehomed are on permanent loan, so should they need to be returned, for whatever reason, they come back to the Centre where they have a home for life.
When you support The Racehorse Sanctuary & Rehoming Centre, you help us give these horses a future beyond the track through our rehabilitation, retraining, and sanctuary programmes.
The Centre relies on charitable donations as we receive no official funding. Our continued success is only possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters. For more information visit our website for ways to donate.
Rolf’s Ramblings
by Rolf Johnson
LUCKLESSLETTER
Do ya feel lucky punk? Well do ya? growls Detective Clint ‘Dirty Harry’ Eastwood pointing his gun at the killer’s head.
‘Punk’ feels lucky: he wasn’t. He grabs for his gun – and Dirty Harry ‘blows him away’.
We all cherish a bit of it, luck, but if we can’t define ‘it’ when we need it then what’s the point? ‘If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all’ is an excuse not a resolution. Rich and poor both get ice – the rich in summer, the poor in winter: that’s not luck. You can’t bottle it.
Look, “the harder I practice the luckier I get” (attributed, wrongly, to golfer Gary Player) has, like most clichés, an element of truth. In racing the harder one studies form, pedigrees, conformation (and ignores tipsters) the less you’re likely to end up skint – betting, breeding or owning. Mate the best with the best and hope for the best – except the same players, year after year, come out on top. It can’t just be luck.
Some of us, often over-educated, prefer empirical evidence to hope and optimism pedalled by fortune tellers, snake oil salesmen and assorted soothsayers: statistics aren’t much better.”99.9 per cent of shark attacks take place in water four feet and under”: you’d be mad to go further.
Luck is convenient. In 2008 a speculative Yorkshire punter put 50p on an accumulator, kicking off with a horse named Isn’t That Lucky and ending with one called A Dream Come True. In between were a number of equally unlikely selections giving the punter a two million to one chance of winning - better than the Lottery but not a lot. The ‘lucky’ punter’s numbers came up. He only collected a million because of his bookmaker’s limits. Some you win…
Frankie Dettori’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ through the card at Ascot in 1996 cost bookmakers fortunes. One such had been on the way to his pitch at the relative backwater of Worcester jumping. A jam on the M40 forced him to turn back to Ascot – where he lost the car, and his house and spent years repaying his losses. Luck? The ‘unknown unknown’. The odds against Dettori’s tour de force flew in the face of all the figures, the percentages on which centuries of bookmaking depended.
Was that bookmaker unlucky? Was ace trader Nick Leeson unlucky running up losses of £827m? Was Tsutomu Yamaguchi unlucky, or very lucky? He was 29 and in Hiroshima when the first atom bomb hit the city. The next day he took a train to his home city of Nagasaki – and the Americans dropped the second atomic bomb on him. Yamaguchi lived to 93.
If a horse purchase went wrong or hurt the new owner, the ‘luck money’, ‘backhander’, will ensure he couldn’t curse the seller. It’s a kind of supernatural insurance. In 1926 D H Lawrence wrote a short story, ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’ where the supernatural takes over - with malign consequences.
The mother of the principle character, her young son Paul, is forever whining (not whinnying) about the family being poor because her husband “has no luck”.
Paul asks, “Is luck money mother?”
“No.” she says. “It’s what causes you to have money…that’s why it’s better to be born lucky than rich. Father is very unlucky. Nobody ever knows why one person is lucky and another unlucky.”
“Aren’t you lucky either mother?” asks the boy.
“I used to think I was before I married. Now I think I am very unlucky indeed.”
The boy rides his rocking horse – and out of the blue starts predicting winners including Sansovino in the 1924 Derby (considered a lucky winner). Paul exhausts himself riding harder and harder (wearing green pyjamas; green, by the way, has always been seen unlucky as racing colours – tell Juddmonte, J P McManus, Simon Munir, the Aga). Working himself into a frenzy he comes up with more and more winners - until dropping dead from exhaustion.
Lawrence is saying, among other things, that any apparent command of the supernatural, of luck in whatever guise, is ultimately illusory.
Yet some people seem to be rewarded randomly whether they put in any effort or not. There are shelves of tomes titled ‘How to succeed in…” most of which can be reduced to the message “fake it til you make it”.
The same team produced the Broadway musical hits ‘How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying’ 1961 and ‘Guys and Dolls’ 1955. The latter revolves round betting and getting lucky though inveterate gambler Sky Masterson sums up his fortunes in the song Luck be a Lady.
They call you Lady Luck
But there is room for doubt
At times, you have a very unladylike way of running out.
More likely the ageing gambler just runs out of stamina; brain cells ossify; he (or she) surrenders cognitive ability; bets at shorter and shorter odds when, as Damon Runyan, on whose stories Guys and Dolls was based, observed: “Nothing between human beings is one to three. In fact, I long ago came to the conclusion that all life is six to five against.” And the older anybody gets, the more certain Runyan’s stricture, “The race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong but that’s the way to bet” applies. We decelerate, we lose our ‘edge’.
Horses defy human calculation. Some people hang horseshoes with the open end on top “so the luck (good) doesn’t run out” while others believe that the open end should be downward “so the luck (bad) can run out”. It’s also unlucky to rename your horse - so many old wives tales – “thirteen plaits for geldings and twelve for mares”; others believe it should always be an even number, including the forelock, to avoid bad luck.
And if you want to make your own luck – “One white leg, buy him/Two white legs, try him/Three white legs, send him far away (Sell him to your foes)/Four white legs, keep him not a day (Feed him to the crows).” I’ve lost count of how many times that nostrum has been rubbished – Economics last year the most recent.
What prompted this celebration of good fortune was seeing Harry Herbert, invited to the winner’s podium at Newbury, having his ticket drawn (had Harry been the drawer there might have been a riot) from thousands in the drum for a potential £1m Dubai Duty Free prize. What are the chances of that? Rub shoulders with the right people and some of the luck might rub off.
I remember a terrible story so awful my memory won’t delete it. For years the committed if histrionic Murray Walker was the voice of motor racing. After graphically, not without great sympathy, describing the disastrous crash in which a leading driver was killed at Brands Hatch, he continued: “The hard luck story of the race was (named) who was forced to retire with clutch problems on lap 23”.
Where Are They Now?
by Frances de Haan
This month we have received an update from Emily who now has Impact du Bonheur:
I had ridden Dimps for 2 seasons at Paul Nicholls and I fell in love with him, he was my nicest ride of the day and shown so much talent in other ways other than just racing. When I heard he had retired after his last run at Plumpton I knew I wanted him at home with me! I have had him 11 months and he’s doing great, I plan to event him and get him to some local shows but for the meantime he’s loving his chilled life!
Clodagh’s recipe
by Clodagh McKenna Herbert
SWEET POTATO, FETA AND CARAMELISED RED ONION FRITTATA
METHOD:
1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the sweet potato for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
2. While the potato is cooking, heat the butter and olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Fry the onions for 8 minutes until nicely caramelised and soft. Add the garlic, thyme and balsamic. Fry for a further 2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and balsamic has evaporated.
3. Stir the parsley through the onions, then scatter the sweet potatoes around the pan.
4. Pour over the beaten egg and swirl it around to fully cover the base of the pan. Break the feta into chunks and scatter over the egg.
5. Cook over a low heat for 5-6 minutes until the sides and the underside of the frittata are starting to look set.
6. Transfer to a hot grill for 3-4 minutes or until the top of the frittata is golden and it is set all the way through.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
300g sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, picked
125g feta
6 large eggs, beaten and liberally seasoned
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Taittinger Moment
SUE SHERRIFF
This months Taittinger moment goes to Sue Sherriff for her dedication to visiting her horses, travelling all the way down via Karl Burkes to Newmarket from her home in Perthshire (Scotland), complete with a bag of carrots. Needless to say Spycatcher and all her horses in Newmarket were very pleased to see her!
Sue Sherriff with Spycatcher
Out and About with the Highclere camera
