Dashing Delight For The Mariscottis

It may not have felt like a flaming June as Dashing Willoughby (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) ground his way through the mud at Royal Ascot to win the G2 Queen's Vase last Wednesday, but for his delighted owners Mick and Janice Mariscotti, it was the continuation of a red-hot run which also included a trip to the winner's enclosure at Epsom on Derby day.

For Epsom-born Mick Mariscotti, who combines his love of horseracing with being a Tottenham Hotspur fan, the only blot on an otherwise successful summer was choosing to watch his football team in the Champions League final over cheering home Le Don De Vie (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) at what was once his local track.

“I was in Madrid watching my team not win the Champions League final,” he said with a grin at Ascot on Saturday as the equine celebrations continued. “It was a massive mistake, but fortunately Janice was at Epsom with a group of our friends and they had an absolutely fantastic day. I did manage to see the race on the plane while sitting on the tarmac before we took off, so I left Madrid in a better mood than I would have done otherwise.”

The 3-year-old winner of the Investec Private Banking Handicap on Derby day, trained, like Dashing Willoughby, by Andrew Balding, won twice at Epsom this year before becoming one of the stars of the Goffs London Sale on the Monday before Royal Ascot when being sold to Aziz Kheir as a potential Melbourne Cup prospect for £460,000. It was a handsome return on his 50,000gns yearling price at Tattersalls, where he was bought from his breeder Kirsten Rausing's Staffordstown Stud. Like many owners, the Mariscottis must weigh up each year which horses to keep, and which must be sold on. Their strategy of aiming for more middle-distance types means that often there is good residual value in a progressive 3-year-old, and it had worked out in very similar fashion just two years earlier with Drochaid (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a 40,000gns yearling and winner of a Tattersalls Book 1 Bonus who landed the same race on Derby day and was later sold privately to Godolphin.

“I was born and brought up in Epsom so winning the Derby would be an absolute dream, but we are realistic enough to know that we are probably not going to be able to buy something that might be capable of doing that,” Mariscotti explained. “But we aim for horses that are that sort of type and what you end up getting is something that probably gets that trip and a bit more.”

Indeed, this is exactly what the Buckinghamshire-based couple has ended up with in Dashing Willoughby, who continued a fine season for his Oaks-winning breeder, Meon Valley Stud.

“We have had a few sprinters but typically we go for that middle-distance type, usually bought relatively modestly. Dashing Willoughby was bought in Book 1 for 70,000gns and that's about our target price,” he continued. “We rely totally on Andrew and Emma Balding and Tess Hetherington to keep us on the straight and narrow in terms of choosing the individual, as long as we like the horse as well.

“We absolutely love getting involved at the sales. We rely on the experts to sift out the ones that aren't right for us but we go and see everything that they tell us they are vaguely interested in and we have loads of them vetted, then we collectively decide how much we should spend on a certain horse. Janice and I get really involved in the process and if we don't like a horse we will say so.”

Success at Epsom has not been restricted solely to the aforementioned handicap winners as the couple also previously owned Goldoni (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), winner of the Investec Derby Trial in 2012 but unable to run in the 'big one' owing to the fact that he had already been relieved of two vital parts of his anatomy. He later continued his career in Australia with David Hayes and a similar path may now lie ahead for Le Don De Vie, who has been switched to the stable of Hughie Morrison, trainer of last year's Melbourne Cup runner-up Marmelo (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}).

“It was a really difficult decision to sell Le Don De Vie and one that Janice in particular wasn't totally on board with, but the rationale is that it's what we do to keep the show going on, because we all know that buying and keeping racehorse is an expensive business,” said Mariscotti. “So if we're in the lucky position of having two good horses we probably will always want to sell one of them and keep one of them. We felt on balance that right now Dashing Willoughby is higher-rated and likely to be higher-rated in the shorter term than Le Don De Vie. Maybe if the races have been the other way round it would have been different but it would have been unusual for us to keep two top-quality horses as we need the funds coming in for next year. Le Don De Vie's sale will pay for another two years for us.”

He added, “Maybe I'll look back and think it wasn't the right thing to do but we've had our first Group winner and our first Royal Ascot winner and right now it feels absolutely fantastic. I can't really describe how exciting it was. What was really pleasing for us, and for Andrew as well, is that we targeted that race right back from last year.  Dashing Willoughby ran really well in the Haynes, Hanson & Clark Conditions race at Newbury and at that point Andrew said he thought that the Queen's Vase would be the race for him.”

As anyone involved with racehorses will know, long-term planning does not always pan out as intended, and indeed there was an eleventh-hour scare for Dashing Willoughby, when he was found to be lame on the Saturday morning before Royal Ascot.

“I must say a massive thank you to the staff at Kingsclere, not just for training and looking after Dashing Willoughby but also for getting him to the race. Leanne Masterton was getting married that day so lots of people from the yard we're going to the wedding, but Kevin Hunt stayed behind and he spent all of Saturday night packing and dressing the foot and looking after the horse. By Sunday morning, Andrew rang me and said that he thought he was going to be sound in time.  I am so grateful to everyone there, particularly Kevin and Angie, who was with him at the races on the day,” said Mariscotti.

With a Group 2 victory now in the book, the owners can start to dream about future big-race targets for their star, who may well chart a similar course to dual Ascot Gold Cup hero Stradivarius (Ire) in his 3-year-old season. The G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup is under consideration, perhaps followed by a tilt at Classic glory in the St Leger, while an entry for the Melbourne Cup has also been tentatively made by his trainer.

“The great thing is there are lots of nice options,” said Mariscotti, who admitted that he and Janice have not been tempted by the breeding business. “We've decided that it's expensive enough owning racehorses. Breeding them as well just brings a whole bunch of headaches, and also that's not our background. It is difficult enough to buy a good one and I've been advised by friends of mine in breeding not to do it.”

Judging by the success of the couple's yearling purchases with the Balding team, this sounds like eminently sensible advice.