'He looks fabulous and is raring to go' - Mishriff stud career back on track after pedal bone fracture

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It’s a momentous weekend for Nurlan Bizakov’s Sumbe operation, as it makes its first foray into big-race sponsorship by putting its name to the storied Prix Morny, which takes place at Deauville on Sunday.

“We always used to speak about sponsoring a race when we started out at Hesmonds Stud, perhaps locally at Goodwood, but it never really happened for one reason or another,” says Sumbe’s always genial general manager Tony Fry.

“We never had stallions to promote back then either, of course, so when the opportunity with the Prix Morny came up we jumped at the chance. It should be fun as there’s always a good atmosphere at Deauville and a lot of the British and Irish visitors are more relaxed because they aren’t there with horses.”

Even better, Sumbe has a credible contender in the Group 1 sprint for two-year-olds, won by such legendary names as Blushing Groom, Irish River and Arazi down the years, in the shape of Sacred Angel.

The Charlie Johnston-trained daughter of Dark Angel became a rare in-training purchase by Sumbe after winning a fillies’ maiden at the Newmarket July meeting by clear water, in a deal that was made to look an even better bit of business when she eclipsed her nearest rival by three lengths in the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot a fortnight later.

“It was simple, really,” says Tony. “We wanted to have a runner in our race and so we asked Richard Knight, who’s far more au fait with the racing scene in Britain and Ireland than us to have a look around, and he managed to find her.

“We’re thrilled, obviously, as she looked a real class act when winning at Ascot. It looks like it’s going to be a hot race but she looks as though she can be competitive.”

Sacred Angel wins the Princess Margaret Stakes at AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker

It’s going to be a busy week for Sumbe as the first yearlings by Commonwealth Cup hero Golden Horde, who stands under the operation’s banner at its stallion base of Haras de Montfort et Preaux, are going under the hammer at Arqana.

“He has one in the main sale and seven in V2, and I’ve seen all bar one and been very taken by all of them,” says Tony. “They don’t all have the strongest pedigrees, but that was always going to be the case with him at the level he stands at in the market.

“We sent a lot of our best mares, so we’d have the majority of his better bred individuals, but we’ll be following every one of his lots through the ring at Arqana and if we like them enough, we’ll be bidding. We always said we’d support him all the way.”

A late enforced change of plans meant Golden Horde received the cream of the Sumbe broodmare band again this year – not that he doesn’t deserve them, being a well-bred star of the sprinting scene in his racecourse pomp.

The likes of Prestige Stakes winner Ollie Olga and her dam Card Shop; Serres, the dam of high-class pair Liber Nauticus and Thetis; and Vertiginous, a Listed-winning daughter of Oasis Dream bought for 280,000gns at Tattersalls last November, were diverted to him after gleaming new purchase Mishriff had to miss the covering season due to injury.

Golden Horde: first yearlings coming under the hammerCredit: Sumbe

Giving an update on the brilliant son of Make Believe, whose crowning achievement was a stunning six-length victory in the Juddmonte International this time two years ago, Tony says: “We’ve been showing him again in the last few weeks, and he looks fabulous and is raring to go.

“He could cover southern-hemisphere time with him if we wanted to, but otherwise we just hope now that he’ll stay happy and healthy out in his paddock until next year’s covering season, when he’ll be treated like a new sire again.

“He kicked a wall in his padded box last December, and managed to fracture his pedal bone, which isn’t that uncommon in foals or yearlings, but is rare for an older horse.

“We had a water treadmill put in to help him recover and keep him mentally engaged, and we had him back to full fitness a few weeks into this year’s breeding season. All the breeders were very patient with him, as they had later foaling mares, but he suffered a setback in March which meant we had to pull stumps entirely this year.”

A back-in-business Mishriff might not be the only new name on the roster at Montfort et Preaux in 2024, either.

Mishriff: unlucky start to life at stud but should be all systems go in 2024Credit: Sumbe

“We’d dearly love Belbek to win another big race, as he hasn’t had a chance to show his best yet this year, but whatever happens he’s a Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner, and we’ve seen with the likes of Siyouni and Wootton Bassett what they can do,” says Tony of the homebred son of Showcasing descended from Hasili’s brilliant daughter Banks Hill.

“There’s Charyn, too,” he adds of the Dark Angel full-brother to Mill Reef Stakes winner Wings Of War. “He was a high-class juvenile who deserves to win a decent race this year, after finishing not all that far behind Paddington on several occasions. He could run in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood next.”

Perhaps the most exciting news to emerge from Sumbe, though, is that Tony has mastered the French tongue after a few years of being based in Normandy, or at least so the Racing Post’s Paris-based correspondent Scott Burton informs me, on the basis of overheard conversations at the races.

Tony gives a short reply more in blunt Anglo-Saxon than the mellifluous language of Moliere when I put it to him.

“I was in a restaurant with friends the other night, one where I’ve been before and seen the English menu, so I thought I’d show off and tell my dining companion what everything was from the French menu,” he continues. “Only my memory failed me, and I got the seabass and chicken the wrong way around, much to their amusement.”

I suspect Tony is being self-effacing as usual. Like all the best people in the industry, and life generally, he doesn’t shout about his achievements, and is happier letting the horses do the talking.

‘Bonne chance’ to Sacred Angel in the Sumbe Prix Morny and to Golden Horde at the sales. Here’s hoping they atone a little for the rotten luck with Mishriff at the start of the year.

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