Bold plan to make a stallion out of Midnight Legend's last colt comes to pass

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Here, he speaks to David and Kathleen Holmes on the next chapter for Midnights Legacy. Subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

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David and Kathleen Holmes’ seemingly hare-brained idea to make a stallion out of the last colt they bred from their widely respected rags-to-riches stallion Midnight Legend has become a reality.

The five-year-old Midnights Legacy has been retired from racing after a productive dual-purpose career over four seasons for Alan King, and he will commence covering duty at Dan and Grace Skelton’s Alne Park Stud in Warwickshire next year.

“We were struggling to make a decision about whether to stop now or go on for another season, as everyone’s been asking us when he's going to stud,” says Kathleen. “But then he got a slight knock on his leg and that made us think we might as well draw a line under his career now and make the announcement, as he would’ve been stopping when the ground got softer anyway.”

Midnights Legacy didn’t accrue black type, as had been dreamed of when the stallion plan was hatched soon after his birth, but he did run to ratings that suggest he would have been capable of doing so if the cards had fallen differently. He also proved a chip off the old block by showing some of Midnight Legend’s toughness and versatility.

He won five times on the level, including in back-to-back renewals of the Northern Dancer Handicap at Epsom on Derby Day, for a peak Flat rating of 101, while he scored three times over jumps, most recently by seven lengths in a Fontwell handicap hurdle that saw his jumps mark rise to 130 and delivered promise for the future.

“It’s sod’s law that he had this little injury as he was due to go for a Listed race at Kempton next,” says Kathleen. “By the time he'd have recovered we’d be getting into deep ground, so that's why we called it a day.”

In the case of Midnights Legacy’s stallion credentials, form is really only of secondary concern. First and foremost, he will be the sole stallion son of Midnight Legend, who achieved almost cult-like popularity before his death at the age of 25 in 2016.

The son of Night Shift had been a Listed scorer for Luca Cumani and later a dual Grade 2-winning hurdler for David Nicholson, before covering a handful of mares in obscurity. However, when the results of those few matings reached the track it gradually became apparent that he was delivering winners at excellent strike-rates and significantly upgrading his stock.

The Holmeses, who had bought the stallion for buttons before he became famous, hit the jackpot as they subsequently covered big books of better mares with him at their Pitchall Stud in Warwickshire.

Midnight Legend’s long roll of honour as a jumps sire is now headed by Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Sizing John, but it also includes stars such as Crosspark, Mac Tottie, Midnight Chase, Midnight Shadow, My Petra, Seeyouatmidnight and Sky Pirate, and it could grow further with his final crop aged only five.

Midnights Legacy, who hails from that last generation, is also well bred on the maternal side, being a full-brother to Listed-winning hurdler Midnights’ Gift and a half-brother to two more black-type hurdlers in Giving Glances and Forgiving Glance, both of whom are by Passing Glance, another fairytale stallion for the Holmeses. The siblings are out of Giving, a winning Generous half-sister to high-class Flat racemares Burn The Breeze and Lethals Lady, as well as to the dam of Champion Hurdle victor Katchit.

Midnight Legend: legacy well established through the likes of Sizing JohnCredit: Pat Healy

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the pedigree,” says Kathleen. “He’s by one of the best National Hunt stallions of recent years, and is the only entire horse carrying Midnight Legend’s genes. He’s also from a very good dual-purpose family, so he’s got every chance.”

Expanding on the stallion appeal of Midnights Legacy, who was occupying his sire’s old box at Pitchall Stud over the weekend as a stop-off en route to Alne Park, she adds: “He’s got an awful lot going for him. His conformation is faultless, and his temperament is to die for. I was out there doing him just now, and it was like being with an old gelding. He’s so kind, and that’s half the battle. Midnight Legend was always level-headed, but he’s even better.”

The Holmeses will of course support the even-tempered Midnights Legacy in his stallion career. The only problem will be finding him mares, as the few they own are all either half-siblings to him, are by Midnight Legend, or are out of Midnight Legend mares.

“I’m not sure we have anything we can send him!” says Kathleen, who despite the small broodmare herd has bred 26 winners under rules and another two in the point-to-point sphere, most of whom were by Midnight Legend or Passing Glance.

“It’s early days, though, and there’s plenty of time to buy him some mares. We’re also debating with ourselves whether we could send him a mare out of one of Midnight Legend's daughters, which would be a 2x3 mating. We’ve got one here who happens to be a TBA National Hunt elite mare, and we’re tempted to do a little experiment.”

Kathleen is also full of praise for Midnights Legacy’s new home, saying: “We approached Alne Park Stud to see if they would like him, as it’s less than ten miles from us and we liked the idea of being able to go to see him and work with them a bit.

“Dan’s trained one or two by Midnight Legend, so knows what he’s all about, and Grace was very keen too. She’s enjoying running the stud and is interested in expanding it. They’re developing it all and turning it into a fantastic set-up. There’s still work going on, with boxes going in and so on, but it already looks amazing – almost like a mini Coolmore.

“It’s beautifully situated, there’s nothing around but countryside so it’s very private, and they have superb facilities and a fantastic young, enthusiastic team, so it just seems like the right place.”

Midnights Legacy will stand at Alne Park Stud, which is being converted from Robin Dickin’s old yard, alongside Spanish recruit Dink, the sire of top two-mile chaser Nube Negra, and recent addition Ocovango. His fee will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We’re booking in mares already, as people have been asking when we were going to send Midnights Legacy to stud for a long time now,” says Kathleen. “We only concluded the deal with Alne Park Stud on Thursday and yet Grace told me they received a booking later that same day. It goes to show what a great following he has.”

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a doyen among bloodstock journalists, provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday