Cheveley Park Stud Goes Back to Roots With Vandeek

On the gloomiest of January days when even the snowdrops aren't bobbing their heads with too much enthusiasm, there is however an undeniable sense of excitement at Cheveley Park Stud. The red doors of the immaculate stallion yard give a flash of colour at least, as the one at the end of the row opens to grant access to a new stallion as grey as the day itself. 

Vandeek (GB) has already enjoyed some days in the sun and there is now hope of more to come from his secondary career. He is for now the sole Group 1 winner by Havana Grey (GB), the Whitsbury Manor Stud stallion who exploded onto the scene when his first runners took to the track in 2022 and has consolidated those early good impressions with a raft of notable performers from his two subsequent crops to race. 

When Vandeek arrived at Nottingham on July 21, 2023 to make his racecourse debut he already enjoyed a degree of fame as the sale-topper of the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up, an achievement notched both from the fast time of his breeze show and the swiftly rising profile of his sire. Such notoriety can sometimes be a curse, but not in this case.

Vandeek's debut covering season will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Cheveley Park Stud being owned by the Thompson family, whose red, white and blue silks have become a symbol of British-bred quality. Over those decades, the stud's broodmare band has been complemented by a stallion roster with a notable sprinting influence, highlighted by the Thompsons' homebred Pivotal (GB) and including Prince Sabo (GB), Dutch Art (GB) and the family's first stallion, Music Boy (GB), the winner of the Gimcrack Stakes in 1975.

“We're going back to our grassroots, really,” acknowledges Cheveley Park Stud's long-standing managing director Chris Richardson. “Remembering the days with Music Boy in the 70s, and then following through with Polar Falcon and Pivotal […] we've had a wonderful history with speed stallions. So we're back to something that is more familiar to us. We're obviously delighted that we've been able to secure Vandeek for both domestic and international breeders, and hugely grateful to KHK Racing Ltd for allowing us to have him grace our property here.”

As Vandeek strides out obligingly in the stallion yard alongside John Rice, in the paddock behind them grazes the now-retired 27-year-old Kyllachy (GB), another former stalwart of the stallion roster with the type of profile which is much needed, particularly in Britain. Vandeek, who will stand alongside Ulysses (Ire), is one of three specifically Flat stallions to be joining the ranks in the UK this year, along with Bradsell (GB) and Isaac Shelby (GB), while the dual St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) can be considered a dual-purpose prospect at Chapel Stud. Kyllachy, a dependable friend to breeders, had a final stud fee of £15,000 and that is where the unbeaten two-year-old and dual Group 1 winner Vandeek will be starting out.

The latter's racing career lasted for a year and was carried out in six acts, with four of those ending in triumph, including the G1 Middle Park Stakes, G1 Prix Morny and G2 Richmond Stakes. He was third in both outings at three, behind Inisherin (GB) in the G2 Sandy Lane Stakes and Mill Stream (Ire) in the G1 July Cup. Last August came the announcement that he would stand at Cheveley Park Stud and he already looks very much at home there as he poses like a statue at length outside the stallion box which commemorates the Triple Crown winner Isinglass, who, back in the 1890s, became the highest-earning racehorse of that time.

“It's remarkable. It's almost like he's been here before,” Richardson says. “From day one, he just walked in, and I think that's something that's been so special, that he can just adapt straightaway to the environment and what he is supposed to do.”

He continues, “When he had his first race at Nottingham and he missed the break by four lengths and still won by four lengths, it was a sort of dozy performance that was so electrically impressive. And I think that sort of epitomises his nature. And to have gone on to be unbeaten at two, to go to Goodwood and win the Richmond Stakes and then come back to win the Morny beating Ramatuelle, who was a phenomenally talented filly, and the Middle Park – he's just taken it all in his stride. 

“He's got this wonderful athleticism, great movement and a wonderful head and mental outlook that just allows him to, as I say, just take everything in and do what he's meant to do. So let's hope that the next part of his career is just as successful.”

The memorial plaque to Isinglass in the stallion yard | Emma Berry

Bred in Wales by Kelly Thomas of Maywood Stud, Vandeek is out of the Exceed And Excel (Aus) mare Mosa Mine (GB). His granddam Baldemosa (Fr) (Lead On Time) is a half-sister to the classy Balbonella (Fr) (Gay Mecene), winner of the Prix Robert Papin when it was still a Group 1 and later fourth in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches won by the great Miesque. A nine-time winner in France and America, Balbonella went on to produce the champion sprinter and notable stallion Anabaa, as well as Key Of Luck.

“We're getting some terrific support from English breeders, as well as French and Irish breeders and some German breeders, too. So he's really catching the imagination,” Richardson says of Vandeek. “He's obviously the best son of Havana Grey to date and he's out of an Exceed And Excel mare, so there's plenty of speed.”

Support is obviously key for any new stallion on the scene to have a chance of success, and in this regard Vandeek can call on the Cheveley Park Stud broodmare band. Though that has been streamlined in recent years, a significant number of the Thompsons' mares will be sent his way. These include Integral (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), winner of both the G1 Falmouth and G1 Sun Chariot Stakes and the daughter of Group 1 winner Echelon (GB) (Danehill), and Zykina (GB), the dam of Group 1 winner Good Guess (GB), who was one of the busiest young stallions in Ireland last year at Tally-Ho Stud. 

“We've got 22 mares going to Vandeek this first season,” Richardson reports. “There's a Group 1 winner in Integral, and also a Pivotal daughter of Russian Rhythm in Zykina, who is the dam of Good Guess, who won the Prix Jean Prat. So that's the level of quality of mare that we're able to offer, and I hope that gives assurances to those other breeders who are supporting us that we really are giving this horse a fantastic opportunity. And Vandeek, I think, deserves it.”