'If we're going to sell yearlings we shouldn't just sell the ones we don't want'

The distinctive and colourful red, black and white silks of Ibrahim Araci are a familiar sight to British racegoers and, if the conversation with his racing and bloodstock manager Rob Speers at Old Mill Stud is anything to go by, will be for a good while to come.

At Araci's burgeoning establishment just to the north of Chippenham and a 15-minute drive from the hubbub of Newmarket, the welcome comes from a boisterous and friendly young Dalmatian, who seems at home among the extensive and orderly paddocks.

Speers' office, replete with large canvassed photographs of Araci's stars past and present, including Craven and Solario Stakes winner Native Khan, typifies the neat and tidy stud that has been owned by Araci since its purchase from the late David Shekells, the breeder of Royal Applause, in 2019.