Good Morning Y'All: Kicking off my tour of Kentucky at one of the world's greatest studs

Good Morning Bloodstock is Martin Stevens' daily morning email and presented here online as a sample.

This week it becomes Good Morning Y'All, in honour of his week in the Bluegrass, where Martin is visiting some truly icon stud farms, not to mention getting up close to some star current and, in this case at Claiborne Farm, retired stallions - subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

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Regular Good Morning Bloodstock readers might have noticed that I rarely, if ever, write about North American racing and breeding.

That’s because I hold the increasingly unfashionable opinion that you should write only about what you know. And, for one reason or another, in my first 17 years as a bloodstock journalist I had never made it to Kentucky and hadn’t managed to keep abreast of the Bluegrass stallion and sales scene.

That was until the lack of North American coverage finally made my good friend and former fellow writer Ed Prosser snap, and arrange for me a trip across the Atlantic with the assistance of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. His exasperation may or may not be connected with his role as European representative of Keeneland for the past eight years. 

So I have spent the last week or so touring the studs and sales houses of Kentucky, gathering news and views for this special week of emails. As you can imagine, it has been a rare treat to see the vast rolling paddocks divided by the quintessential black or white plank-board fences that were graced by legendary names in the golden age of transatlantic horsetrading: Nijinsky, Secretariat, Roberto and so on. 

Mind you, I can’t help feeling that by scheduling the trip at this time of year, when temperatures and humidity levels are almost unbearable in Kentucky, Ed was inflicting a little punishment on me for not having written about North American breeding sooner. 

I’d always thought that the Coolmore partners, the Maktoums and other high-rolling owners had been driven by competition for the most bankable stallion prospects, and a little dash of ego, when pushing yearling prices to dizzying new highs at the July yearling sales in Kentucky in the 1980s. Now I realise it must have been sunstroke. 

Secretariat's grave features among the many resting places of champions at Claiborne FarmCredit: Edward Whitaker

Bloodstock partnership manager Miriam Doran, who puts these emails together, sometimes hours before they arrive in your inbox if I’m stuck for inspiration or have been researching industry opinion in sales house bars late into the night, came to the rescue once again by ferrying this 40-year-old non-driver (I was brought up in London, all right?) from farm to farm. 

First stop was probably the most historic and iconic Kentucky stud of them all: Claiborne Farm, set over 3,000 acres of immaculately maintained paddocks and yards decked out in the farm’s colours, designated as orange in racecards, but decidedly more yellow in reality. 

The equine cemetery here says it all. On simple, rectangular tombstones read the names Blenheim, Bold Ruler, Mr Prospector, Nasrullah, Nijinsky, Round Table and Secretariat. Resting elsewhere on the property are Damascus, Drone, Easy Goer, Forli, Hawaii, Sir Gallahad, Sir Ivor, Tom Rolfe, Topsider and Unbridled.

There won’t be many top-class thoroughbreds competing in the major racing jurisdictions who aren’t descended from multiple horses who were born and raised on the farm, or stood there. 

Arthur B Hancock snr founded Claiborne in 1910, and became an adviser to some of the great American industrialists of the roaring twenties. 

Sir Gallahad, a French-bred son of Teddy who achieved the almost comically anachronistic feat of winning the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Prix Jacques Le Marois at three and the Lincoln at four, was imported in 1925 and sired the Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox in his first crop. Gallant Fox in turn delivered the next Triple Crown laureate Omaha, and they remain the only father and son to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. 

Yearlings at Claiborne Farm last autumn Credit: Edward Whitaker

That early success funded the import of Blenheim, a Highclere Stud-bred Derby winner by champion sire Blandford, and he conceived yet another Triple Crown winner in Whirlaway and a further Kentucky Derby victor in Jet Pilot. 

Arthur B Hancock bred ten champions and upon his death in 1957 was described by the Bloodstock Breeders’ Review as “probably the most influential breeder in the history of the American Turf”. 

Bull Hancock, who earned the nickname for his strong personality and deep voice, had taken over the farm a decade earlier, when his father suffered a stroke. There is even a ‘Bullpen’, a small stone building near the farm’s main office, to which the formidable horseman would retreat to play cards with his pals.

Over the next quarter of a century Bull would acquire numerous influential stallions for Claiborne, including the French-conceived but Irish-born and US-raced Princequillo, who sired champions Hill Prince and Round Table, and became an important broodmare sire whose daughters produced the likes of Mill Reef and Secretariat, and the old Aga Khan’s ill-tempered Champion Stakes winner Nasrullah, who supplied nine champions including Bold Ruler (in turn sire of Secretariat) and Never Bend (sire of Mill Reef). 

Under Bull’s direction, Claiborne was home to the North American champion sire in every year between 1955 to 1969, thanks chiefly to Princequillo, Nasrullah and Bold Ruler, and it also bred or raised the likes of Dahlia, Forego, Gamely, Kelso, Moccasin and Special.  

Bull died in 1972, leaving his son Seth to take over the reins at the age of just 23. Seth soon conducted the deal to syndicate Secretariat for $6 million before his Triple Crown-sealing and record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, and he would also later ensure the likes of Danzig, Mr Prospector, Private Account, Seeking The Gold and Unbridled stood at Claiborne. 

First Samurai: long-time resident at Caliborne and proven Grade 1 sireCredit: Edward Whitaker

Under his leadership Caerleon, Fairy Bridge and Nureyev – all of whom should be familiar to any self-respecting breeding buff in Europe – were born and/or raised on the farm.

Imagine, then, how Seth’s son Walker feels with that weight of history on his shoulders.

Still only in his mid-30s, he has gradually assumed control of one of most internationally renowned studs in recent years, but done so in a time when the Atlantic has never seemed so wide, with surely less crossover between dirt and turf than at any point in the past century – even if victories for Malibu Moon’s son Valiant Force and Nyquist’s daughter Crimson Advocate at Royal Ascot last month suggested that Europeans’ present suspicion of North American breeding is misplaced. 

War Front, the chief earner on the farm’s ten-strong roster, brought back the good times around a decade ago, siring the likes of Air Force Blue, Brave Anna, Declaration Of War, Lancaster Bomber, Roly Poly, US Navy Flag and War Command, but he is approaching his twilight years and few others command quite the same respect as cross-surface influences.  

Walker is philosophical about the European market’s general shift away from North American stallions and bloodlines or, to put it in a way that gives Claiborne the credit it deserves, its preference instead for homegrown descendants of Danzig, Fairy Bridge and Mr Prospector.

“There’s no point comparing the current market to my father and grandfather’s time,” he says. “It’s apples and oranges.

“The industry is so commercially driven now, and it would be hard for us to market a turf horse that Americans didn’t necessarily see race. We’ve talked about trying it, but there really aren't enough people who appreciate those sorts of horses. They’re tough sells. 

Stallion headcollars at Claiborne FarmCredit: Edward Whitaker

“And the thing is, if those European stallion prospects are really top-class, Darley or Coolmore or someone else at that level in Europe are going to buy them, so we’d be looking at second-tier horses, and there’s no point trying to convince people to use second-tier horses: they’ll just flock to the dirt horses they know. 

“The growth of Darley and Coolmore has changed everything, really. When my grandfather was buying horses in Europe in the 1940s, 50s and 60s it was easy; there were a few bigger studs over there, but not those big powerhouses like now. Operations like those pluck the best horses so quickly, there’s little for us to buy.”  

But instead of buying European-bred and raced sire prospects in order to sell their produce back to Europe, what about trying to convince breeders here that they should use US-nurtured sires who raced on a surface that is, ironically, a dirty word to them? 

Walker acknowledges that a vicious circle has taken hold in that respect.  Europeans want to see evidence that the sire's progeny are effective on turf before throwing their lot in with him, but few people bring those horses over in large enough numbers for that to happen, leading to Europeans assuming there’s no urgent need to breed or shop in America. And that ensures there are even fewer exponents of American breeding competing in Europe. 

The Coolmore partners, led by Vincent O’Brien, John Magnier and Robert Sangster, went in search of gold in Kentucky in the 1970s and 80s because the likes of Sir Ivor and Nijinsky had exposed the native-bred as being inferior, and to a lesser degree in more recent times Wesley Ward’s band of Scat Daddys showed up locally bred Royal Ascot two-year-olds as not being forward or fast enough, causing a temporary run on the sire's last remaining produce. 

Without cases like those, though, why would European breeders think there’s any need to import pedigrees from America rather than those that have been developed in other parts of the globe? It’s not as if they are pig-headedly parochial; they supported one Australian shuttler after another when Choisir and his fellow countrymen demonstrated that antipodeans did speed better, and they are now becoming increasingly invested in Deep Impact since he and other Japanese-breds have been shown to be world-class. 

“For whatever reason, Europeans are hesitant to buy into some of our dirt horses, but I think that if a horse can run on the dirt they can run on the turf,” says Walker. “It translates. A turf horse can’t often run on the dirt, but it works the other way around.

“American-breds prove time and time again that they can compete on turf: just look at the couple of Royal Ascot winners this year, and from such a small sample size. I know people like to bang on about drug issues but HISA [the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority] is cleaning that up, and I don’t think breeders and buyers will have to worry about that for much longer.

“Look at War Front: he’s by Danzig but he was a dirt sprinter and Europeans wouldn’t have given him much credence in his early days, which was fine, but then he had War Command win the Coventry Stakes and Declaration Of War win the Queen Anne Stakes on the same day at Royal Ascot and suddenly everyone wanted to know.”

Walker is hoping that War Front’s son War Of Will, who stands at Claiborne and has first yearlings selling this year, is afforded more respect by Europeans from the outset of his stallion career.

There’s little reason why they shouldn’t take the same chance on him as they would on other unproven stallions closer to home. Besides being by a leading turf sire, he is out of the Listed-winning Sadler’s Wells mare Visions Of Clarity, who also produced National Stakes winner Pathfork; and he was also pinhooked by Norman Williamson to sell at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, before proving himself to be effective on both surfaces by winning the Preakness and Maker’s Mark Mile.  

“We’re really bullish about him,” says Walker. “He’s from a great European family and sums up everything we’ve been saying about the dirt and turf crossover, so I hope Europeans look at him. War Front is a proven sire of sires, and War Of Will looks just like him, except that he’s bigger and stronger, and that’s what the yearlings look like too.” 

Would Claiborne be tempted to show Europeans the way by racing some of his stock on the other side of the Atlantic, I ask, before realising that it’s a dumb question due to racing economics. 

“We’ve thought about it, but you know the purse structure over in Britain and Ireland!” he laughs. “You’re running for a couple of thousand dollars if you win a maiden, whereas here you can get $75,000 for the same race, and that pays the training fees for the horse’s whole career. We’d rather start one off over here, and if they’re any good, take it to Europe to try to win some big races.” 

For all that Claiborne is no longer operating in a time when stallions, mares and their progeny are frequently being transported between Kentucky and Europe, its roster does invoke the spirit of an earlier golden age. It also includes Catholic Boy, one of only three North American colts to have won Grade 1s on dirt and turf at three; Zenyatta’s bete noire Blame, whose five elite-level winners include Prix de Diane heroine Senga; and Demarchelier, a Grade 3-winning son of Dubawi and a Sadler’s Wells mare.

“We try to focus on that crossover a little bit,” says Walker. “It opens up your buying bench a lot more. Europeans might be hesitant with North American horses generally but they might be more open to buying horses by Catholic Boy or War Of Will, who were effective on both dirt and turf. They’re unproven as sires at this point, so we may be wrong, but it’s worth a shot, and might open up something for the future.” 

Catholic Boy enjoying time out in his paddock at Claiborne FarmCredit: Edward Whitaker

Reflecting on the heavy burden of responsibility for maintaining Claiborne’s place at the centre of the thoroughbred world, Walker adds: “Technically, I took over in 2014 but I would say I actually took over only in the last five years. I do feel Dad’s retired now, but I didn’t feel so when I first took over.  

“Going by what other people say, I feel like I maybe should feel more pressure, but I’ve been raised around all this, and grown up with it, so I don’t feel it too much. Of course I want to live up to my father and grandfather’s success, they’re big shoes to fill, but hopefully I’ll be able to do it.”

And will he be putting his own stamp on how things are run?

“That’s something I’m still trying to figure out how to do best,” he says. “The industry’s changed so much, with so many different partnerships and people buying into horses after their first stakes win – and that by the way is why Dad’s fully retired now; he says he doesn’t even recognise the current status of the industry any more. 

"Back in the day, deals for stallion prospects were struck just before or after their last race, not as early as they do currently, and now in order to get one you have to partner up, so the game has become making new friends in the industry and potential partners in horses. I’m still trying to figure out how best to move forward. It’s a learning process."

He continues: “We currently have a lot of unproven horses, with War Front in the sunset stage of his career and Blame about to enter that level, so we need a couple to hit and then we’ll be on our way.

“The market to get these horses is so competitive, and I’m not really in a position to overpay like some other people who are funded by billionaires. I’m a fifth generation horseman, and it’s my only business, so I can’t afford to make too many mistakes.”

With those words ringing in my ears I did my bit to resurrect transatlantic commerce for Claiborne products by heading to the farm’s souvenir shop and dropping $150 on a branded sweatshirt, an ornament commemorating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown and a few pictures and postcards.

If I had deeper pockets I would take home a War Of Will yearling, too. He really does look the part and anyone with a keen sense of history will be hoping he becomes the latest Claiborne sire to bring the continents of America and Europe closer together. 

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

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“It’s the same situation as with the horses we've bought so far in Gregory and Courage Mon Ami,” says agent Richard Brown as he discusses Wathnan Racing’s latest big-money buy Remarquee.

Pedigree pick

Individualism is the only newcomer in the seven-furlong novice stakes at Ayr (2.20) on Monday but what the Charlie Johnston-trained colt lacks in experience he more than makes up for on pedigree.

He is a Too Darn Hot half-brother to four winners including Gold Cup hero Subjectivist, dual Group 2 victor and St Leger runner-up Sir Ron Priestley and Rockfel Stakes third Alba Rose, out of Susan Hearn’s marvellous mare Reckoning, a Listed-placed daughter of Danehill Dancer.

Individualism cost 110,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and will carry the colours of leading economist Jim Walker, who has also owned both Subjectivist and Alba Rose.

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Leading bloodstock journalist Martin Stevens provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday.