City Of Lights Calling Myerscough

Timing really is everything, whether it's getting up in that last stride or getting chinned in that last stride. That miniscule margin can make the world of difference and while timing is evident every day of the week on the racetrack, those events have a knock on effect on what goes on in the sales ring. Take recent G3 Prix Penelope winner Luminate (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) for example. When her half-sister by Lope De Vega (Ire) was catalogued in Book 2 at Tattersalls last October, Luminate was listed as being unraced. However, before the ink had dried on the catalogue, she had broken her maiden on debut at Deauville in August and while that was a nice boost for her breeders Philip and Jane Myerscough, what she did at Chantilly two days before the sale resulted in the update one dreams about.

“The yearling was in Book 2 on the Monday and Luminate won the [G3] Prix de Conde on the Saturday, two days before, so we were able to advertise her in the TDN on the Sunday when nobody was paying much attention to anything else,” Philip Myerscough recalled to the TDN on Wednesday. “In the catalogue Luminate wasn't even listed as a winner, so it just shows how things can change drastically overnight. Imagine if the Conde was a week later, someone would have gotten a rather nice pedigree update and we would have sold quite a good value filly.”

Ultimately the Myerscough's enjoyed a bumper return on their filly when she was knocked down to Godolphin for 370,000gns, and it was a result that was made all the sweeter considering the filly's dam Kalandara (Ire) (Rainbow Quest) was purchased by Myerscough at Goffs for just €35,000 four years earlier. The mare, a 10-year-old at the time, was offered by the Aga Khan Studs and as one would expect, had an attractive pedigree, being a half-sister to the brilliant G1 Champion S. and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Kalanisi (Ire) (Doyoun). More significantly however she was offered in foal to the then-unheralded Siyouni (Fr). When asked what drew him to the mare, Myerscough, who owns the picturesque Colbinstown Stud, said, “I'd been lucky before with some ex-Aga Khan mares, in particular those that were sold in foal to sires that hadn't come to anyone's attention, and that was certainly the case with Siyouni back then. Also, she was a gorgeous looking mare by Rainbow Quest from a great family. She is a half-sister to Kalanisi and, while he may have had more of a national hunt reputation at that stage, he was still a top-class racehorse in his day. It's a pretty deep pedigree and a genuine Group 1 family. At that money I thought she had a great chance.”

How right he turned out to be. As a bloodstock auctioneer for so many years, Myerscough has witnessed plenty of highs and lows in the sales ring and Kalandara's career for her new owners got off to a flying start when the Siyouni colt she was carrying made 320,000gns as a yearling at Tattersalls Book 1. While he subsequently hasn't done too much to advertise the undoubted breeding prowess of either his sire or dam he did, in Myerscough's own words “win his race in the sales ring”.

At this stage the Myerscoughs knew Kalandara could breed a stunner and they were neither surprised nor disappointed when the mare's Lawman filly arrived in 2015.

“Luminate was also a nice foal and she developed into a beautiful yearling,” he said. “We had about six vettings at Goffs [Orby Sale] and while she probably made her price based on what the mare made, we weren't exactly elated either with €85,000, owing to the interest in her beforehand.”

The buyers on this occasion were John and Jake Warren, who obviously weren't in the least bit put off after shelling out a hefty sum for her underachieving older brother Paradise Lake (Ire) as a yearling. Luminate now carries the colours of Highclere Throughbred Racing whose members are no doubt looking forward to the Freddy Head-trained filly taking on her biggest challenge to date, when she targets the G1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly next month following her gutsy reappearance win at Saint Cloud earlier this week. The Myerscoughs are naturally excited at the prospect and Philip is hoping Luminate will prove equal to the task.

“She seems to have her heart in the right place anyway,” he said. “She was sort of left in front a little early, then the runner-up came sweeping by and by all accounts Olivier [Peslier] never got fussed and just allowed her to find her stride. It was a lovely way to start the season and all roads now lead to the Prix de Diane which is exciting.”

Even more exciting for the Myerscoughs is the fact that now 15-year-old Kalandara is healthy and well and producing sure to be sought after siblings.

Said Myerscough, “We have a really good full-brother [by Lawman {Fr}], slightly bigger than Luminate, but just a lovely horse and a New Bay (GB) filly who is a really sweet, pretty foal. We knew Kalandara was carrying a filly when we sold the Lope De Vega last year, so the plan will be to keep this year's filly, but the yearling will go to the sales in the autumn. We haven't decided where he'll go, but he's a lovely model and he's full of quality.”

There was plenty of debate among the Colbinstown team–Philip's wife Jane plays a prominent role as does their son David who manages the farm and among other things is one of the Davids (along with David Cox) that forms the major consigning force that is Baroda & Colbinstown–about what sire to use this year. After much deliberation, Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega (Ire) has been chosen as Kalandara's next partner.

“We thought about going to Invincible Spirit (Ire), but then we decided that he was too much of a sprinter and that crossed with Rainbow Quest could have left everyone very confused, so in the end we decided to go back to Lope De Vega who is more of a miler, 10-furlong horse,” Myerscough said. “Obviously, we seriously considered Lawman. Luminate is actually very like Lawman himself. He is quite a compact horse with a lot of Invincible Spirit about him and we actually originally sent Kalandara to him because of the nick with Sheikh Fahad's 1000 Guineas winner Just The Judge (Ire). It certainly seems to have clicked again and I even saw on the TDN after Luminate won that she represents a Werk A+++. rating, so there's obviously merit in that.”

The Myerscoughs have had some classy progeny of Lawman pass through their hands but one high profile one, Marcel (Ire), wasn't as beneficial to the Colbinstown balance sheet as the current star. “We had Marcel here a few years ago,” Myerscough explained. “Dave picked him out as a foal and he was a stunning horse but he didn't make his price as a yearling. He was really big but beautiful and myself and Jane were tempted to keep him, geld him and let him out and bring him back as a hurdler.”

While Peter Chapple-Hyam will thank them for not taking that route following Marcel's win in the G1 Racing Post Trophy, the Myerscoughs' patience and love of the game has also seen them breed and be associated with some unforgettable names of the national hunt side of the sport. Best Mate (Ire) (Un Desperado {Fr}) is one such name and while they did not breed the triple G1 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, they did purchase his dam Katday (Fr) (Miller's Mate {GB}) well before he etched his name into the history books. Before that though, Myerscough was fortunate enough to breed another Cheltenham winner in Ventana Canyon (Ire) (Un Desperado {Fr}), hero of the G1 Arkle Chase at the Festival in 1996.

“Going back to the Aga Khan link mentioned earlier, we bought a Shirley Heights (GB) mare from his draft in the late 1980s carrying a foal by Un Desperado who noone here had ever really heard of,” he said. “When she foaled we were left with this vision of a beautiful horse who wasn't commercial for the flat or the jumps market at the time, so we kept him and put him in training and he was a magnificent horse. Ventana Canyon then led to us buying Katday, who was also in foal to Un Desperado, so that connection has certainly been lucky.”

While Katday, who died in early 2016, had already foaled Best Mate before being added to the Colbinstown broodmare band, she proved far from a one-hit wonder as she produced other high-class performers such as Cornish Rebel (Ire) (Un Desperado {Fr}), Inca Trail (Ire) (Un Desperado {Fr}) and Inexorable (Ire) (Roselier {Fr}), as well as leaving a few sisters to continue the family link at Colbinstown.

Said Myerscough, “We have a half-sister to Best Mate called China Sky (Ire) who is due to foal to Walk In The Park (Ire). Her first foal is a horse called Champ (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}), who won first time out and was placed on his other two starts and his trainer Nicky Henderson has high hopes for him. He was named after Tony McCoy, so he has a bit to live up to. We also have a 2-year-old by Fame And Glory (GB) and a yearling by Presenting (GB) out of her, so she has some nice stock on the ground.”

Having enjoyed some wonderful moments over the years with stock borne of French origins, Myerscough and his family look like they'll be returning to France this summer to cheer on some of their stock bred and raised in Ireland, especially with the fact that Andre Fabre has been chosen as the trainer of the now 2-year-old Lope De Vega half-sister to Luminate.

“We've been in the game too long to get carried away, so we will take it one race at a time, but we're certainly delighted with how the year is going so far,” Myerscough said before adding, only slightly in jest, “And let's hope the TDN will want to speak to me again next month after Chantilly.”