'I much prefer breeding to racing' - Oppenheimer on mares, stallions, champions and a colt-crazy dilemma

Trials, tribulations and significant financial exposure are all priced in when it comes to breeding thoroughbreds. This is not a pursuit for the faint-hearted or the risk averse. 

Anthony Oppenheimer, one of the generation's pre-eminent owner-breeders, is well used to the highs, lows and everything that comes between. “One doesn’t really want to tell people, but it’s a form of gambling,” he says as he discusses the nature of breeding racehorses. 

“Say you’re going to use Frankel, who’s £275,000 this year, or Dubawi, who’s £350,000, they’re brilliant stallions, but when you put your money down you have to say to yourself, if I go into the casino and put it all on red, I either come out with double or nothing.”