Captain Rio leaving a legacy to a thriving Turkish bloodstock industry

Captain Rio had reached the grand age of 23 by the time of his death at stud this month, but there is an added sadness for his joint-owner Hakan Yuceturk as there was a feeling that the chestnut was excelling during his twilight years.

A member of the Jockey Club of Turkey’s stallion roster, Captain Rio arrived to stand in the country in 2015. The son of Pivotal was a Yorkshire success story for Richard Whitaker as a juvenile, winning the Two-Year-Old Trophy at Redcar and then running away with the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte.

He chipped a bone in his knee in the French Guineas but returned for another highly impressive victory in the Listed Testimonial Stakes at the Curragh. Captain Rio was retired after three respectable starts for the late Dandy Nicholls in 2003 and spent a decade at Joe Foley’s Ballyhane Stud, while he also shuttled to New Zealand.

He was often regarded as a soft-ground influence in Europe, with good sprinters such as Captain Dunne, Body And Soul and Burning Thread, as well as Group winners like Red Badge and Ainippe.

However, he made a more notable mark in the southern hemisphere through dual Australian Group 1 sprint winner Terravista and Brazilian Pulse, an outstanding filly who completed the Wakeful Stakes - VRC Oaks double in 2010.

Yuceturk, an executive board member of the Jockey Club of Turkey, had bought Captain Rio in partnership with his associate Esra Atman.

"He was very well known in New Zealand and Australia and he was very successful in Turkey as well, he won over 300 races here and only this year as a producer he won 77 races," he says.

"I guess last year and this year were probably his best, and especially this year as he has produced three Group winners.

"His two-year-old colt Turdemirkir won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in the capital city Ankara this month, which is a very important race, and his four-year-old daughter Regardless won many times on dirt, and only just lost in a Group 1 race.

"He also has another filly, Atomic Blonde, that loves the synthetic Polytrack. Different surfaces don’t seem to matter for his produce, and fillies, mares, colts, doesn’t matter either."

Yuceturk is involved in negotiating for many of the arrivals to the Jockey Club headquarters, but he had a particular impact in selecting Captain Rio.

"He had a two-year-old in Turkey, Worldpoint, that ran four times and was a four-time winner in Istanbul, he was a very nice colt that I liked, after that I started to follow Captain Rio," he says.

"Finally me and my partner decided to buy him. He was standing at Westbury Stud in New Zealand. We contacted them and I flew to Auckland. It’s a really long trip but I visited the stud farm, saw him and liked him, and we brought him to Istanbul.

"I think he was more successful in Australia and New Zealand than he was in Ireland."

Yuceturk explains that Captain Rio mostly stood at Turkey’s national stud but had moved to a private farm by the time of his death.

He is also involved in the ownership of Grade 1 Eddie Read and Charles Whittingham Memorial winner After Market, a son of Storm Cat who came from Lane’s End in 2014.

"He’s a different kind of stallion," he says. "His are three-year-olds, not two-year-olds, you need patience for him, but with Captain Rio it didn’t matter."

In recent years, the Jockey Club of Turkey has earned respect from international jurisdictions with some intelligent stallion purchases.

One in particular, Daredevil, broadsided the American market in 2020 with his Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Oaks winners Swiss Skydiver and Shedaresthedevil, having moved away following his first crop of runners making the track.

Hakan Yuceturk has been involved in the Jockey Club of Turkey acquiring stallions

He was swiftly spirited back to Lane’s End in a sharing agreement.

"We bought many new stallions for the Jockey Club of Turkey, so the breeding every year is improving as a number and as a quality," Yuceturk explains.

"Super Saver is doing very well, we bought Authorized, Myboycharlie from France, Bodemeister from Kentucky.

"We decided to buy them for new bloodlines for Turkish breeders, we wanted proven stallions and stallion prospects, it doesn’t matter.

"For instance last year we bought [Summer Mile winner] Tilsit from Juddmonte. He’s from the family of Kingman and we bought him because he’s got a beautiful pedigree.

"I also went to Coolmore to sign the contract for [Vintage Stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up] Battleground, who is out of the champion racehorse Found.

"We also bought two stallions, one proven and one prospect from Japan including Victoire Pisa, the Dubai World Cup winner. The Turkish Jockey Club is very aggressive about buying new bloodlines, new stallions."

Others, he notes, could be added.

"We’ve had some contact, we will see," he says. "But we are still searching."

Yuceturk, whose background is in the textile industry, is himself something of a racing purist and it remains his ambition to own the winner of the Turkish (Gazi) Derby, held over the traditional mile and a half turf distance at Veliefendi at the end of June.

He wonders whether Authorized might be the one to eventually help him reach the target. The 2007 Epsom Classic winner by Montjeu had moved through the Darley studs in Britain, Ireland and France before his acquisition for 2020.

A multiple Group 1 sire through the likes of Australian stalwart Hartnell, Seal Of Approval and Santiago, Authorized might well have cornered some of the National Hunt market had he been around, off the back of the exploits of his most famous competitor in recent years, dual Grand National hero Tiger Roll.

Authorized will have his first Turkish-bred runners next yearCredit: Edward Whitaker

Through the likes of last season’s Prix Vermeille winner Teona, the now 18-year-old may also become a name of note as a broodmare sire.

"His first generation will start to run next year," says Yuceturk. "I have no doubt about him, he’s a proven sire. I’ve got a filly by him who is lovely."

Interestingly, Yuceturk cannot be alone in having that view as he is one of the stallions to have reached maximum books of 120.

"Authorized is fully booked, Super Saver - fully booked, Battleground, Bodemeister, Myboycharlie are fully booked," he says. "Turkish breeders have potential."

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