Wednesday, January 10, 2001

LATEST LADBROKES ANTE-POST PRICES

Odds 1/ 4 the odds a place 1, 2, 3 (All Quoted)


Queen Mother Champion Chase(Cheltenham, Thursday 14th March 2001)
Flagship Uberalles 9/4, Edredon Bleu 9/2, Tiutchev 6/1(from 8/1),
Direct Route 8/1, Function Dream 12/1, Fadalko 14/1,
Native Upmanship 16/1, Bellator 20/1, Cenkos 20/1, Call Equiname 25/1, The Outback Way 25/1, Wahiba Sands 33/1, Nordance Prince 33/1, Frozen Groom 40/1, Aghawadda Gold 40/1, Space Trucker 40/1, Get Real 40/1, Grey Shot 40/1, Rathbawn Prince 40/1, Celibate 50/1, Davoski 50/1, Red Ark 50/1, Puget Blue 66/1, Corniche 100/1, Reveillon 100/1.

Odds 1/ 4 the odds a place 1, 2, 3, 4 (All quoted)


The Gold Cup(Thursday 15th March 2001)
First Gold 2/1, See More Business 7/1, Cyfor Malta 8/1, Rince Ri 8/1, Marlborough 10/1, Beau 11/1, Florida Pearl 14/1, Nick Dundee 14/1, Legal Right 16/1, Native Upmanship 16/1, Alexander Banquet 25/1, Dorans Pride 25/1, Ad Hoc 33/1, Commanche Court 33/1, Bobby Grant 33/1, Lord Noellie 40/1, Kings Road 40/1, Bellator 40/1, Logician 40/1, Mickos Dream 40/1, Upgrade 40/1, Fox Chappel King 50/1, Go Ballistic 50/1, Brother of Iris 50/1, Rathbawn Prince 50/1, Arctic Camper 66/1, Imperial Call 66/1, Moral Support 66/1, Mulligan 66/1, Red Marauder 66/1.

Odds 1/ 4 a place 1, 2, 3 (Others on request)


Champion Hurdle:(Cheltenham, Wednesday 14th March 2001)
Istrabaq 4/6, Geos 7/1, Barton 12/1, Moscow Flyer 12/1,
Stage Affair 14/1, Hitman 14/1, Hors La Loi III 16/1, Happy Change 25/1, Sausolito Bay 25/1, Mr Cool 25/1, Mantles Prince 33/1, Mister Morose 33/1.

Odds 1/ 4 a place 1, 2, 3 (Others on request)


Triumph Hurdle:(Cheltenham, Thursday 15th March 2001)
Bilboa 8/1, Pedro Pete 8/1 (from14/1), Pittsburgh Phil 10/1,
Jait du Cochet 10/1, Jocko Glasses 16/1, Kadarran 20/1, Quality Team 20/1, Fruits Defendu 20/1, Caesars Palace 25/1, Montreal 25/1, Francies Fancy 25/1, Fait Le Jojo 33/1, Sprit of Park 33/1, Albatros 33/1, 33/1 Bar.

Odds 1/ 4 a place 1, 2, 3, 4 (Others on request)


Grand National(Aintree, Saturday 7th April 2001)
Noble Lord 14/1 (16/1), Papillon 16/1, Beau 16/1, Young Kenny 20/1,
Niki Dee 25/1, Rince Ri 25/1, Commanche Court 25/1, Smarty 25/1, Bobby Grant 25/1, Mely Moss 25/1, Jocks Cross 25/1, Moral Support 25/1, Inch Rose 33/1, Bobbyjo 33/1, Ackzo 33/1, Edmond 33/1, Ad Hoc 33/1, Micko's Dream 33/1, Paddys Return 33/1.

Odds 1/ 4 a place 1, 2, 3, 4 (Others on Request)

TBA AWARDS A GREAT SUCCESS WITH THE AGA KHAN REVEALING HIS BREEDING PHILOSOPHY

The Aga Khan had a very successful 2000, headlined by Sinndar winning the Vodafone Derby, the Budweiser Irish Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and Kalanisi capturing the Dubai Champion Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Turf. Sir Michael Oswald, the TBA President, presented the Aga Khan with a silver salver to mark the achievements of 2000.

The Awards' Dinner took place last night, Tuesday, January 9, at the Churchill Hotel, Portman Square, London W1, with 250 people attending. Sir Michael Oswald, who is stepping down after 36 consecutive years on the TBA council, also made a speech while the popular BBC television and radio presenter Clare Balding introduced the winners of the awards.

The Aga Khan said: "It is a singular honour to be invited to address the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association on this occasion. You represent the historic memory, the admirable continuity and the strategic thinking platform that British breeders have brought to Thoroughbred racing.

"It is no accident that when my grandfather decided to enter the sport, he chose to register his colours here, before anywhere else in Europe. Every member of the team on which he built the foundations of his enterprise was educated, trained and engaged professionally here in England.

"For my grandfather no race carried greater prestige and glory than the Epsom Derby. He exchanged correspondence on breeding with his English racing friends and advisers, and he measured his successes against those of the best established figures of British racing."

He went on to say that much has changed since then, with costs having "risen astronomically without a commensurate growth in income".

"Only a very small minority of owners and breeders, many of whom are not English, can afford to view their racing and breeding activities outside carefully established and well monitored financial parameters.

"Thus, it is a source of great relief and renewed hope that racing in England is restructuring its finances, and a successful outcome has to be an industry-wide objective. I vigorously support Sir Michael's call that all the stakeholders should work together to build the industry's future on a new and permanently sound economic base."

He then explained his worries and hopes for the future.

"What a traditional breeder such as myself finds particularly difficult to manage today is the way in which the financial drivers of the breeding industry are changing it.

"An example is the 40-share stallion syndicate of a horse that never left his operating base, which is now being replaced by limitless books of mares for stallions who will travel to any market that will purchase their services.

"The prices asked for top-of-the-line stallions have become prohibitive for the majority of breeders, causing them to forego using such stallions, except for the smallest number of uniquely qualified mares.

"In breeding terms the consequences are equally unpredictable, and, I might suggest, undesirable. The role of the female lines is likely to be diluted beyond recognition through the sheer force of numbers.

"On average a mare will produce some 12 healthy foals in her stud career. When one stallion can engender up to 300 foals per year, around the world, it follows that the global inventory of pedigrees in, say, 15 years will present breeders with a totally new problem. In those 15 years a mare will have produced some 12 foals, whereas a globetrotting stallion will have sired 4,500 foals! Of these, half, or 2,250, will be fillies.

"In these circumstances it is likely that so many of the top female lines will have been bred to such a small stallion base that circumventing these stallions, rather than using them astutely, will become a breeder's goal or should I say nightmare. Is that not already occurring with Northern Dancer?

"The majority of traditional breeders, who I believe generally place more importance in their pedigrees on the female rather than the male lines, will thenceforth need to scour the globe for foundation mares, or families, that are revealing themselves, before they have been crossed with the top-of-the-line globe-trotting sires.

"This is of course only a mathematical scenario. But it does represent the sort of long-term questioning that any traditional breeding operation needs to do in order not to find itself cornered by market forces. It is also an illustration of the ever-more essential and increasingly global breeding and market intelligence that will be needed to survive.

"For these reasons I have had to decide to create an Aga Khan Studs database, that will take no less than five years to build, that will need to be updated almost daily, but which I hope will be second to none. Amongst other uses, it will be a means for me to better understand, and determine how to address, the overuse of certain stallions, which is now a fact that cannot be avoided, and that all breeders will have to accept as reality. What does this entail?"


He revealed that this will mean, more than ever before, using stallions which are considered unfashionable.

"While the market becomes more and more polarised towards big commercial operations, first-season sires and a handful of "top" stallions, the breeder with long-term goals, other than commercial gain, will have to defy this trend. Breeding decisions, which may seem to many unwise or unconventional, may in fact represent the key to our survival.

"This policy, which I introduced some years ago, is now showing promising results, just as statistics are showing that sending more and more mares to leading stallions does not increase their rate of outstanding offspring."

He declared that Grand Lodge deserved recognition long before Sinndar and explained that breeding is an art not a science.

"If interpretation is well founded and based on good observation, it can then be used as logic. Measured across the nearly 80 years of my family's Thoroughbred breeding in Europe, and the large number of bloodlines which we have managed and developed, I feel bold enough to say that logic has played a greater role than luck.

"Are there any rules to this than can be articulated? No there are not. The word rule contains a level of absoluteness that nature does not have, unless it has been manipulated. If there is a conclusion that I can share with you about Thoroughbred heredity, it is that when observation is translated into interpretation, and then into logic, fortuity (or luck or chance) becomes probability.

"Aga Khan breeding policies are anchored in the most stringent parameters of probability, developed over decades, and challenged regularly by exceptions that deserve to be tested.

"The trust we place in this process is enhanced by the success that other traditional breeders have had, and are continuing to have, in European breeding and racing.

"The question before us is whether our parameters of probability will be validated in the globalising world of tomorrow's Thoroughbred breeding. I very much hope that the answer will be in the affirmative."

Louise Kemble, the TBA's Chief Executive, commented on the evening. She said: "I am thrilled that the Awards' dinner went so well. Having the Aga Khan as the Guest Of Honour was delightful and his speech was full of interest to breeders."

McCREERY AND JOHNSON HONOURED

McCreery, who was a very successful amateur jockey with over 150 wins under both codes, bought Moreton Paddox in Warwickshire in 1963 and turned it into a stud. He bred High Top, the 1972 2,000 Guineas winner, there and later moved his breeding operation to the family's Stowell Hill close to the Dorset border in Somerset, where he bred Old Vic, the 1989 French and Irish Derby winner.

McCreery has also served as chairman of the TBA and the British European Breeders' Fund. He is currently also a consultant to Lord and Lady Rothschild's Waddesdon Stud.

As well as forming an invaluable part of the Garrowby Stud team, John Johnson and his wife Tricia also enjoyed success in their own right last summer when Peaceful Paradise, a filly bred at their Bishop Wilton Stud, won the Listed Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket.

In 1961 Johnson joined Garrowby Stud from the now defunct Solario Stud, where he had looked after the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner Sweet Solera, and was employed by the present Lord Halifax's father to develop part of the family's estate near York for breeding.

The highlight of Johnson's time at Garrowby was when the home-bred Shirley Heights won the 1978 Derby and another star bred there and sold as a yearling was the 1996 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes winner Pentire.

Nigel Elwes, the TBA Chairman, said: "We are delighted to be able to honour two people who have each made an enormous contribution to the British breeding industry. Bob McCreery has not only bred two classic winners but been on countless committees to the benefit of his fellow breeders while John Johnson has been instrumental in the success of Garrowby Stud over the past 40 years."

TBA AWARD WINNERS AWARDED AT THE CHURCHILL HOTEL, LONDON, ON JANUARY 9, 2001

FLAT (Already announced)

1. Leading British-based Breeder (Flat), given by HM The Queen
Winner: JUDDMONTE FARMS
The Queen's Silver Cup has gone to Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms. Three of the most-notable Juddmonte horses were the Vodafone Derby (Epsom, G1) third Beat Hollow and the two-year-old Group winners, Endless Summer (Richmond Stakes, Goodwood G2) and Clearing (Horris Hill Stakes, Newbury G3). The latter pair were both conceived at Prince Khalid's Banstead Manor Stud by his home-bred Zafonic.

2. Leading British-based Stallion (Flat prize money won), given by the British Bloodstock
Agency Winner: UNFUWAIN
A year ago the BBA Silver Cigar Box was won by Green Desert and it is Unfuwain, another member of the Shadwell Stud stallion roster, who takes the award this time around. Home-bred by Sheikh Hamdam Al-Maktoum, Unfuwain sired the winner, Lahan, and third-placed Petrushka in the Sagitta 1,000 Guineas (Newmarket, G1). Petrushka went on to win three consecutive Group 1 races (Kildangan Stud Irish Oaks, the Curragh, Aston Upthorpe Yorkshire Oaks, York, Prix de l'Opera, Longchamp)

3. Leading British-based Stallion (most individual winners on the Flat), given by the Barleythorpe Stud
Winner: EFISIO
Efisio, who stands at Lord Carnarvon's Highclere Stud, won the Barleythorpe Stud Cup in 1998 with 36 individual winners and he is back on top again for the 2000 season. After a protracted duel with his old rival, Green Desert, he scored by a margin of four (34 to 30). The Listed winner Riberac (Sodhexo Rosemary Stakes, Ascot) and Persiano (William Hill Mile, Goodwood) were two of the contributors.

4. Leading British-based First-Season Sire (Flat), given by the Directors of Tattersalls
Winner: MIND GAMES
Mind Games, winner of the Tattersalls Silver Salver, is owned jointly by Terry and Margaret Holdcroft - who stand him at their Bearstone Stud - and Robert and Valerie Hughes, who bred him at their Lostford Manor Stud. They are the respective breeders of his two smart fillies, Romantic Myth (Queen Mary Stakes, Ascot G3), and Elsie Plunkett.

5. Leading Broodmare, given by the late Mr H.J. Joel
Winner: BREADCRUMB
Overbury Stud's Breadcrumb has been voted the winner of the H.J. Joel Silver Salver. Tracing to the great Overbury foundation mare Farthing Damages, she is responsible for the Group winners Last Resort (Victor Chandler Challenge Stakes, Newmarket G2) and Barrow Creek (Goldene Peitsche, Baden-Baden G2), and Listed scorer Arctic Char (Spring Trophy, Haydock Park). She is also the grand-dam of Trans Island (Vodafone Diomed Stakes, Epsom G3).

6. TBA Flat Breeder, given by the TBA
Winner: JOHN GREETHAM
After much deliberation, the nucleus of winners bred by John Greetham of Guyler's Stud in Norfolk has earned him the TBA Silver Rose Bowl. These included the Group scorers Arctic Owl (Jefferson Smurfit Memorial Irish St Leger, Curragh G1) and his close relative Little Rock (Princess of Wales's Stakes, Newmarket G2, Marriott Hotels Gordon Richards Stakes G3). The latter carried the well-known colours of his owner-breeder.

7. Langham Cup (Small Breeder Special Merit), given by the late Miss Phillipa Vaughan
Winner: GILES PRITCHARD-GORDON
As the breeder of a Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 winner, the panel had little hesitation in nominating Giles Pritchard-Gordon as recipient of the Langham Cup. His winners are the relatives Suances (Prix Jean Prat, Chantilly G1, Prix de Guiche, Longchamp G3) and Superior Premium (Cork & Orrery Stakes, Ascot G2), respectively sons of the British-bred and British-based stallions, Most Welcome and Forzando.

NATIONAL HUNT AWARDS (Already announced)

8. Leading Active British-based Stallion (most NH prize money won), given by the late Col. W.H. Whitbread
Winner: GUNNER B
Gunner B, who turned 28 on January 1, is believed to be the oldest active registered thoroughbred stallion in Europe. For the 1999-2000 season, the Shade Oak Stud resident has won both the Whitbread Silver Salver and the Horse & Hound Cup with 11 individual chase winners. Four of his winners were bred by Anne Jenks from Gloucestershire, namely Bobby Grant (Grade 2 Bet Direct Tommy Whittle Chase, Haydock), and the siblings Red Marauder, Red Striker and Anna Karnali.

9. Leading Active British-based Stallion (most individual NH chase winners), given by Horse & Hound
Winner: GUNNER B
See above

10. Leading Broodmare (NH), given by Mr E.K. Dudgeon
Winner: COVER YOUR MONEY
Anne Jenks' Cover Your Money, who was put down aged 26 last summer, has won the Dudgeon Cup. Her son Red Marauder won the John Smith's Handicap Chase at Wetherby, another son, Red Striker, landed a four-timer over hurdles, and her daughter, Anna Karnali, won three novice hurdles. All three are by Gunner B. In addition, her grand-daughter Celtic Native won eight times.

11. National Hunt Achievement Award, given by HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Winner: BILL BROMLEY
With Classic Cliché and Sir Harry Lewis, Bill Bromley of Wood Farm Stud in Shropshire, stands two of the country's most highly-regarded National Hunt stallions. He also stood Space King, the inaugural winner of the Whitbread Silver Salver for the 1981-82 season. Maintaining a family tradition established by his father, Cecil, and continued by his son, Anthony, Bill has been voted winner of the Queen Mother's Silver Salver in recognition of his marked contribution to the breeding of jumpers in Great Britain and for his suggestion and tireless promotion of the National Hunt Foal Show at Doncaster.

SPECIAL AWARDS

12. The Award to the person employed within the Industry who, in the opinion of the Council, has made a significant contribution to the British Breeding Industry, given by the Dominion Syndicate.

Winner: JOHN JOHNSON
John Johnson joined the fledgling Garrowby Stud in 1961 from the now-defunct Solario Stud in Newmarket, where he had looked after the subsequent 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner Sweet Solera before she went into training. The present Lord Halifax's father wanted to develop part of the family's Garrowby Estate for breeding and in the ensuing years he saw his colours carried to victory in the 1978 Derby by the home-bred Shirley Heights. Pentire, bred by Peter Halifax (the current holder of the title), was sold at Tattersalls and went on to win the 1996 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. Johnson retired from Garrowby in August at the age of 65 and, with his wife Tricia, has been developing his own Bishop Wilton Stud which last summer bred a first Listed winner, Peaceful Paradise, appropriately in the Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket.

13. The Special Award to the person who, in the opinion of the Council, has made a significant contribution to the British breeding industry, given by the Duke of Devonshire.

Winner: BOB McCREERY
Bob McCreery was an extremely gifted amateur rider, with over 150 successes under both codes between 1949 and 1963, and has made an even greater impact as a thoroughbred breeder. At his two studs - first Moreton Paddox in Warwickshire and latterly Stowell Hill on the Somerset/Dorset border - he has bred two classic victors, the 1972 2,000 Guineas winner High Top, and Old Vic, who took the 1989 French and Irish Derbys. McCreery has also made a huge contribution to British breeding as an administrator, having served as chairman of the TBA and the British European Breeders' Fund.

TBA AWARD WINNERS

Unfuwain, sire of two classic winners this year, and Gunner B, who turned 28 on January 1 and is believed to be the oldest active stallion in Europe, are among the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Award winners for 2000.

Shadwell Stud's Unfuwain, the sire of Irish Oaks heroine Petrushka and the Sagitta 1,000 winner Lahan, is the leading British-based Flat stallion (in prize money).

Richard Lancaster, the Shadwell Stud Director, said: "Unfuwain has enjoyed an unforgettable season thanks to his classic-winning fillies, Petrushka and Lahan, and to take this award is the icing on the cake.

"It is of special significance to all of us at Shadwell as Unfuwain now follows in the footsteps of Nashwan and Green Desert who have both won the award in the past."

Gunner B, who stands at Shade Oak Stud in Shropshire, wins the equivalent National Hunt category and the prize for siring most individual chase winners.

Peter Hockenhull, Manager of Shade Oak Stud, said: "We are delighted that Gunner B has been honoured with these awards. Winning them is something that we have strived towards since we set out in this business, and I am sure it is an aim of most British stallion owners.

"We hope to keep on winning them in the future and Gunner B is still going strong for next year, although he will be restricted in the number of mares he covers."

Mind Games, who had a Royal Ascot winner in Romantic Myth from his first crop, is the leading British-based first-season sire (Flat) while Highclere Stud's Efisio regains the prize for leading British-based Flat stallion (in numbers of winners) with 34 successes.

Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms is the leading British-based breeder with such runners as the Vodafone Derby third Beat Hollow and Group-winning juveniles Endless Summer and Clearing.

John Greetham of Guyler's Stud in Norfolk wins the TBA's Flat Breeder prize thanks to Arctic Owl (Group 1 Irish St Leger) and Little Rock (Princess Of Wales's Stakes and Gordon Richards Stakes) while Giles Pritchard-Gordon has won the Langham Cup for a small breeder deserving special merit. Pritchard-Gordon, based at Slaugham Park Stud in West Sussex, bred the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat victor Suances and Cork & Orrery Stakes scorer Superior Premium.

Bill Bromley takes the National Hunt Achievement Award. The proprietor of Wood Farm Stud in Shropshire is not only one of the driving forces behind the successful National Hunt Foal Show at Doncaster in November but stands two of the country's most-promising jumping stallions, Sir Harry Lewis and Classic Cliche.

Overbury Stud's Breadcrumb wins the Flat Broodmare Award, having been responsible for the Group winners Last Resort (Challenge Stakes) and Barrow Creek (Goldene Peitsche), while Cover Your Money, who was put down aged 26 in the summer, takes the National Hunt equivalent. She is the dam of Red Marauder, Red Striker and the ill-fated Anna Karnali.

Nigel Elwes, Chairman of the TBA, said: "Our annual Awards' Dinner gives the TBA the opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding achievements by some of the well-known and less familiar names, both human and equine, who have contributed to the success of the British breeding industry."

FIRST 2001 RUNNERS FOR GODOLPHIN

Nad Al Sheba this evening (Thursday) sees the world champion stable have their first runners for 2001 and it will be Always Believe who will be the first when he steps out in the 00-100 handicap over 1,400m on the dirt.

He is then followed by Jaydoom in the Al Rashidiya Prep, a Conditions event over 2,000m on the turf, a race that sees him against last year¹s Singapore Plate winner Timahs, now prepared by Dhruba Selvaratnam.

Strahan will be the stable¹s representative in the Dhs200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint, inaugurated last year and won by Snow Kid.

Nad Al Sheba¹s meeting also hosts another very interesting event with the impressive recent winners Dubai Down Under and Just Call Me opposed. The latter was the top price at Dhs2,000,000 at the inaugural Pearls of Dubai Auction in October while Dubai Down Under was entered but withdrawn from the sale.

Just Call Me is owned by Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum while Dubai Down Under races for the Racing for Charity Syndicate.

Field for the Dhs200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint (Prestige) NH 4YOs+ & SH 3YOs+ 1,200m (Turf).

FLIGHT PATTERN (AUS)
6 b h Manshood ­ Fly Baby (African Sky)

MAIDAAN (GB)
5 b h Midyan ­ Panache Arabelle (Nashwan)

ABREEZE (USA)
6 b g Danzig ­ Priceless Pearl (Alydar)

CABALLERO (GB)
5 b h Cadeaux Genereux ­ On Tiptoes (Shareef Dancer)

MILE HIGH (GB)
7 b g Puissance ­ Jobiska (Dunbeath)

MOONIS (GB)
5 b h Green Desert ­ Badrah (Private Account)

MUTAMAYYAZ (USA)
5 dk b h Nureyev ­ Ajfan (Woodman)

STRAHAN (IRE)
4 b c Catrail ­ Soreze (Gallic League)

VULPIX (AUS)
4 b c Snippets ­ Hannah Baby (Marscay)

CENKOS ON TARGET FOR VICTOR CHANDLER

After two rather disappointing efforts this year at Exeter and Cheltenham, trainer Oliver Sherwood is hoping for some improvement.

"He's an intended runner at the moment and he's in good order" Sherwood reported.

"He's been a bit disappointing this season to be quite frank.

"I was a bit disapponted with the way he ran in the Tingle Creek but it is a big step up from novices to top-class company.

"It's at the back of my mind that he might be a better horse after Christmas.

"He certainly improved tremendously last year from the New Year onwards so I'm hoping that is the case.

"We always thought he wanted softer ground by just the fact that he wants the better ground so open at the moment.

"I'm not over-confident, I just want him to run a race and be bang there. Whether he can give the weight away time will tell."

Meanwhile, Paul Webber has stated today the Jungli will miss Saturday's big race.

For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink Archive

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