Soaring stakes-winner strike-rates, sad setbacks and a change of scenery for these breeze-up young guns

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Here he speaks to Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark on their hopes for 2024 and putting behind them a tough 2023 – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark were preparing to take their first ever draft to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale when I last interviewed them three years ago. An awful lot has happened since then.

At that point, the maiden consignors were running their pre-training and breaking business out of 15 boxes rented from Robert Cowell at his Bottisham Heath Stud, more or less on their own.

Today, they are operating from larger premises across Newmarket at Longholes Stud and employ around eight staff. 

They have enjoyed the sweetness of success, with two high-class fillies having emerged from the small number of breezers they have sold, but also tasted the bitterness of bad luck with horses and, worse still, experienced horrific human tragedy. 

Things started happening for Whitaker and Clark’s WC Equine operation remarkably quickly after I spoke to them in April 2021. Only four weeks later, the first horse they had ever offered at auction, an Aclaim filly sold on behalf of breeder Brendan Morrin to Rabbah Bloodstock for 60,000gns, scored easily on debut at Newcastle for James Tate.

“There were lots of tears shed when Royal Aclaim won that evening,” recalls Bridlington-born Whitaker, who cut her teeth with breeze-up maestro Mark Dwyer and, after a spell with The Castlebridge Consignment, served as head girl for Roger Marley before working for Godolphin pre-training and as an exercise rider for Charlie Appleby at Moulton Paddocks.

“We watched the race in our front room, and I’ve still got video of Tegan on her knees crying with relief. It felt better than the sale day.”

Royal Aclaim: "There were lots of tears shed when Royal Aclaim won that evening"Credit: John Grossick

South African-born Clark, formerly head girl or assistant manager in the yards of Olly Stevens, Roger Varian and Simon Crisford, and assistant manager to the widely respected Richard Morgan-Evans, adds: “It was surreal. It doesn’t get better than the first lot in your first consignment coming out and winning like that. It was overwhelming, really.”

Royal Aclaim hadn’t won any novice stakes on her first start, either. Back in third was Perfect Power, who would go on to land the Norfolk Stakes, Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes at two and the Commonwealth Cup at three, and one place behind was Fearby, who also endorsed the form by taking the Dragon Stakes by five lengths a couple of months later.

Royal Aclaim herself didn’t run again until she was three, when she won the Listed City Walls Stakes at York and finished a highly respectable sixth in the Nunthorpe back at the same track. She collected more black type with placings in the Prix du Petit Couvert, Land O’Burns Fillies’ Stakes and Summer Stakes.

Looking back at my interview that spring, Clark told me Royal Aclaim would be “ready to run straight after the sale”, which was right on the money, but only that there was “plenty of horse there”, which seems an understatement with the benefit of hindsight, but fair enough when the all-important breeze hadn’t taken place yet. So what are her recollections of the filly now?

“I’d ridden her from the moment we got her, and I definitely thought she was capable of winning races,” says Clark. “She was the sort you could confidently recommend to a trainer as she’d be a delight to have in the yard, but the problem was we only had the other filly we sold that year to measure her against, and although we knew she was a genuine type, we didn’t know what ability she had. It’s very hard to judge when you’ve only got one other horse to gallop with.

“But it all changed at the breeze before the sale. I remember standing at the top of the Rowley Mile watching her, and when Ellie got down in the saddle and said go, I thought ‘wow, she looks fast’. As soon as Ellie got off her I could see from her face that she was delighted. I can read her like a book by this point.”

Whitaker adds: “She’s seen my unhappy face enough times after a breeze. But this one couldn’t have gone any better, the way she quickened and galloped out. Then the times came out later in the afternoon and confirmed it. She was the fastest filly, the eighth fastest overall, and did the quickest final two furlongs of the entire sale.”

Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark on the gallopsCredit: Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark

WC Equine’s perfect start as breeze-up vendors resulted in an influx of new business and a more than doubling in its breeze-up offering for 2022. Among the five lots it offered that year was another filly at Tattersalls’ Guineas fixture who turned out to be a stakes winner.

Village Voice – by Zarak out of Sensible Way, a daughter of Street Sense and May Hill Stakes winner and 1,000 Guineas third Nasheej – was sold on behalf of a client to BBA Ireland for 38,000gns. 

She has been sent out by Jessica Harrington to win three races, including the Listed Salsabil Stakes and Group 3 Prix de Flore last year, and hinted that there is more to come at four this year when a close third in the Alleged Stakes at the Curragh on her seasonal bow recently.

“She came to us late in the year and we broke her in around January, and only really started getting going with her later on,” says Whitaker. “She was very raw but soon showed us she was a nice, classy filly. 

“She just got on with everything we put in front of her and did it very easily. We never breezed her at home, only did a few half-speeds instead, as she was such a big galloping type and we wanted to mind her.”

Providing an important reminder that the best horses in breeze-up sales aren’t always identified by the stopwatch, Clark continues: “She went to the breeze fit, but didn’t have the screws tightened by any means. She hadn’t had the extra months on her back that the other lots had, so physically just wasn’t suitable for that. She did solid fractions, though, and showed everyone she had ability and had been well educated.”

Two stakes winners in Royal Aclaim and Village Voice from just seven lots sold over two seasons: many other vendors with more years under their belt would kill for those sorts of stats. But it was all going too well.

Village Voice: high-class graduate of the WC Equine academyCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

“It was a tough year for us in 2023, we struggled a bit,” says Clark.

How so, I ask, only to wish I could put the words back in my mouth when the answer comes.

“How long have you got?” says Whitaker with a hollow laugh. “First, I got kicked in the face on New Year’s Day as I was double barrelled leaving the field, and fractured my jaw and lost I don’t know how many teeth in the process.

“A few months later we had three breezers die of grass sickness as we turned them out into the paddocks, and then a couple of days after that one of the work riders at Bottisham Heath Stud [Mazar Allauddin] took a fatal fall and we were the first on the scene, so became quite heavily involved in the incident.”

Clark adds: “On top of all that, the draft we were left with wasn’t quite as strong as the other years. Some were the first horses we pinhooked ourselves, and we perhaps didn’t get it quite right, as they didn’t do so well. We’re still relatively young within the industry, and still learning.”

Tough times. But the pragmatic pair won’t dwell on them, or expect any sympathy or special treatment.

“It’s fine; that’s life, it happens,” says Whitaker. “It’s how you come out of it that matters, and I believe it’s made us stronger as human beings. All you can do is try to move forward and rebuild.”

“It’s important to say, too, that we still gave the horses 110 per cent last year, even with everything going on; it was just more strained than in normal times,” interjects Clark.

WC Equine moved into its new premises last autumn. The relocation was prompted by a desire to grow the business, but a change of scenery after the harrowing events of early 2023 was a welcome fringe benefit.

“We had only 35 boxes at Bottisham and no turnout, and we were living in a house share and wanted our own home, so when the opportunity to move to Longholes came up we grabbed it,” says Whitaker. “This is our forever home, we hope, and can’t see ourselves anywhere else.

“We were a bit nervous about telling Robert Cowell that we were moving out but he’s always very supportive of us, and wished us well.”

Clark says: “We moved into Longholes in September. The facilities are second to none. We’ve got two barns, each with 20 boxes, a six-furlong wood-chip gallop, a covered lunge ring, a covered oval walker, loading ramp, stalls and extensive paddocks. We’ve also got access to the Longholes Equine Therapy Centre, which has an aqua treadmill and high-speed dry treadmill among other things.

“We’ve had one of the best years prepping horses. The Zoustar colt we took to the Craven Sale was fit and sound, and picture perfect. We couldn’t have taken him there in any better form. 

“The Harry Angel filly we sold at Doncaster last week really surprised us. She did a good breeze despite the ground. The horses just seem to be fitter, and are always hitting the mark, which is testament to the facilities we have here at Longholes.”

So to Whitaker and Clark’s lucky auction, at which they sold Royal Aclaim and Village Voice. WC Equine’s draft to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale this week comprises a Threat filly (lot 343), a Zoustar half-sister to Group 3-placed Blatant (382) and a Kameko half-brother to Scandinavian stakes winners Captain Chorus and Seaside Song (386). 

Their good fortune appears to have returned, as the Kameko colt has been blessed by a big recent update, thanks to his three-year-old half-brother Ocean Viking winning a hotly contested Saint-Cloud maiden by two and a half lengths on debut for Andre Fabre on the Friday before last.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” says Whitaker. “Ocean Viking looks promising to say the least. He fairly bolted up and made it look easy as well. His half-brother by Kameko looks like he’ll be a progressive colt too. He’s not going to be a precocious two-year-old, it’s fair to say.

“He’s a lovely animal, and gives us the feel of a solid miler on the gallops. He’s got a good page and the great physique and sound mind to go with it, so hopefully he can go on and do good things.”

Explains Clark: “We bought him on the back of pre-training his half brother by Ulysses a couple of years ago. He was bought to be trained in Spain but we tried to persuade the owner to leave him here, as we thought he was a 85 to 95-calibre horse. We also liked that he was by a first-season sire in Kameko, and he fell into our price range. There wasn’t anything we didn’t like about him, really.”

“That’s what we look for,” adds Whitaker. “Something with progression, that swings its hip and has a good step, and stands out in a smaller yearling sale.”

The Zoustar filly also received an update of sorts before the sale, as the sire notched an eighth Group/Grade 1 winner when Climbing Star claimed some serious scalps in the Robert Sangster Stakes at Morphettville on Saturday.

Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark

“She’s a lovely athletic scopey type,” says Whitaker. “We don’t expect her to put in an electric breeze but her stride length will catch the eye. We’ll breeze her not dissimilarly to Village Voice, in that we won’t ask her to go too quick but will showcase how fit and gorgeous she is. She’s lovely to watch when she’s galloping, and will definitely go on to be a racehorse.”

It’s the Threat filly, a £12,000 pinhook from the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, who has really worked her way into her present custodians’ hearts, though.

“I'm glad you asked about her, as we think she’s a bit special,” laughs Whitaker. “She’s an incredibly hardy filly with an attitude you couldn’t buy, and her homework has been very pleasing. If all goes well, we hope she’ll do a decent breeze.

“There’s nothing wrong with her physique, far from it, but we’ll have to sell her page a bit. She’s by a slightly off the wall sire, and is the first foal out of a mare who only raced twice, albeit she is by Wootton Bassett. So she’ll have to make her pedigree, but I really believe she’ll do that on the racecourse.”

Clark adds: “We’ve been a bit cheeky in that every time we’ve had a client, trainer or agent come to look at horses, we pester them to look at this filly. They all like her as physical, but they have a question mark over her sire, which I find surprising when he was such a consistent, classy two-year-old.

“She’s got that same great constitution and work ethic as Threat, and her work really has been excellent. It’s a challenge trying to work out what you’ve got on your hands when you only have a small draft to gallop, but I’m excited to see her breeze, put it that way.”

There’s a reason it’s personal with the Threat filly, besides her being bought by Whitaker and Clark themselves, instead of being sent by a client. 

WC Equine is now based at LongholesCredit: Windsor Clive International

“We’ve really had to fight her corner as it was a struggle to get her in the sale, to be honest,” continues Clark. “That said, it’s been a struggle for a lot of consignors to get horses into sales this year.

"But it’s another measure of how far we’ve come in three years, as when we first started we were quite polite and quiet, but now we make sure we make our voices heard.”

WC Equine’s move to Longholes has not only allowed the business to increase its breeze-up activities, and give the horses a smoother prep, but it has also enabled growth in terms of people power. 

“We can offer accommodation as an incentive to get staff, and now we’ve got a great little team of ten people including ourselves,” says Whitaker. “We’ve even got our own secretary!”

“Breaking and pre-training is our bread and butter – we had around 130 or 140 horses through last year – but that can become a little mundane for the staff, as it’s the same routine every day, so they all become very invested in the breezers. 

“They were all delighted with the result we got at Doncaster last week, and they always come up to the sales in Newmarket to watch the horses go through the ring and rinse us for a drink if they sell well. It gives everyone a bit of momentum and one of our key riders even invested in a breezer this year.”

Clark points out another benefit of the staff expansion, saying: “It’s enabled us to do simple things we couldn’t do properly when it was just the two of us, like going to the sales to buy horses. 

“In the past, Ellie would go up to Tatts and run around doing a shortlist, before hurrying home and handing it to me, so that I could pop up there and look at as many of them as I could before getting back to the yard. 

“It’s great that we can now focus on that a lot more, as we love the breeze-ups, and want to grow the consignments year on year. It’s nice to spend six months with the horses and the sales are such a buzz. We’ve made so many great relationships through them over the years.”

The one accomplishment that Whitaker and Clark are yet to tick off, which is richly deserved and surely can’t be far away, is a sales ring smash hit. The 60,000gns they received for Royal Aclaim has still not been surpassed.

“We do this because we love the horses and the hard work, especially when we’re supported by such a wonderful team,” says Whitaker. “But I can’t deny that it would be absolutely brilliant if we had a bit of a payday at some point. 

“It would make the countless days pulling our hair out when legs are falling off all over the place and we’re wrapping everything in bubble wrap feel worthwhile.”

Clark reasons: “We have to keep consigning good-quality horses who are well prepped and run to a high standard for our reputation to grow, buyers’ confidence in us to increase, and hopefully values to go up.

“Are we in it because we’re chasing that big price, though? No, not at all. But would it be great if we got one along the way? Yes, definitely.”

“It would be a bonus,” agrees Whitaker. “We’re still yet to have a holiday since we started WC Equine. A holiday would be nice.”

Here’s hoping the rapidly progressive operation’s Kameko half-brother to a rising star of the French racing circuit and/or their beloved Threat filly doing everything right at home make a healthy contribution to Whitaker and Clark’s travel fund this week.

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Must-read story

“He is definitely one for Ascot,” says Aidan O’Brien’s assistant Chris Armstrong as Wootton Bassett colt Camille Pissarro marks himself down as an exciting two-year-old talent with victory at Navan.

Pedigree pick

Alpha Centauri and Fairyland are among the stars to have previously won the six-furlong maiden for two-year-old fillies at Naas on Monday (4.50), so the race will be appointment TV for Flat fans.

The Jessica Harrington-trained Cold Hearted – by Blue Point out of Celestial Object, a Group 3-placed Galileo full-sister to Warm Heart – and Ballydoyle raider Fairy Godmother, a Night Of Thunder half-sister to Listed-placed juvenile Sketch bought for 425,000gns, look likely to play leading roles.

But it is perhaps Paddy Twomey’s entrant Zharova who has the classiest pedigree of all. She is a Kingman half-sister to the smart fillies Makarova and Nina Bailarina out of Vesnina, a winning half-sister to Group 3 winners Marenko and Potapova from the prolific family of Russian Rhythm.

She carries the silks of Moyglare Stud, having been purchased for 140,000gns from breeder Brightwalton Stud, via Barton Stud, at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last autumn.

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