Danehill

Legendary BBA Ireland bloodstock agent Adrian Nicoll relives some of his greatest days in the business They say that stories lived are better than stories told. And by God, Adrian Nicoll has lived through his share of good times. The former BBA Ireland bloodstock agent has purchased his share of Group 1 winners, too. Think Dark Angel, Kooyonga, Alexander Goldrun, Serenade Rose and more. He also played a part in the shuttling of the stallions to Australia which was the brainchild of his close friend John Magnier. More recently, he...

Peter Orton will leave his position as general manager of Vinery Stud and pursue his own endeavors in the Thoroughbred industry. Arriving at Dr. Thomas Simon's Vinery Stud in 2000, Orton would go on to shuttle influential dual hemisphere stallions More Than Ready and Southern Halo. Over time, Vinery would also stand prominent sires Red Ransom, Mossman, All Too Hard, and Testa Rossa. The stud also has young stallions Exceedance, Hawaii Five Oh and Ole Kirk to look forward to. Orton told the TTR AusNZ, "I've thought about it for...

Multiple Group 1 winner Elvstroem (Aus) (Danehill) has died at the age of 24, according to published reports. He was standing at Haras du Petit Tellier in France. Trainer Tony Vasil said of Elvstroem to Racing.com, "You could watch a movie with him sitting on the couch beside you. He was such a gorgeous horse. He was an extraordinarily smart horse." Well traveled throughout his 32-start career, Elvstroem won his first Group 1 in the 2003 Victoria Derby, before adding the G1 Underwood Stakes and G1 Caulfield Cup in 2004....

Former Australian champion sire and influential shuttle stallion Exceed And Excel (Aus) (Danehill), described as "an amazing horse from day dot", has been retired from stud duties by Darley at the age of 23. The announcement came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the sprinter's victory in the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington. After that win for owners Nick Moraitis and Alan Osburg, he was bought by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum as a stallion prospect and made one final start for Tim Martin in the July Cup in...

Coming into this G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen off a seasonal bow back in January in the G3 Silk Road S., where he finished second behind Namura Clair (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}), First Force (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) found his redemption after a ninth place effort in this contest last season with a grinding, determined victory to pick up his career-first Group 1 black-type on Sunday. Breaking in good order from barrier 13 over a rain-drenched course, First Force was pushed along by Taisei Danno to hold an outside spot from mid-pack...

First job in the Thoroughbred industry? Mucking out at Guirys 1 in Coolmore Ireland on my year out from University. I think there were 20 foals in the barn - 18 by Sadler's Wells and two by Danehill. Biggest influence on your career? Ultimately, my father, who introduced both my brother William and I to racing. He loved his National Hunt and we spent many a happy afternoon at Huntingdon and Towcester. Later in life, both Richard Henry and Simon Mockridge played major roles in my experience and development. Favourite...

Former world champion 3-year-old Rock of Gibraltar (Ire) (Danehill--Offshore Boom {GB}, by Be My Guest) has died from heart failure at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland at the age of 23. The son of Danehill was bred by the late Joe Crowley with his daughter Annemarie and son-in-law Aidan O'Brien. He was sent into training with the latter at Ballydoyle as a juvenile in 2001, later racing for the partnership of Sir Alex Ferguson and Susan Magnier. Rock Of Gibraltar's sensational racing career, which saw him land seven consecutive Group 1...

Even as the British Turf grieves a revered sovereign and, in the same person, its most cherished and indispensable servant, I hope you'll forgive me for instead reflecting on the loss, only the day before, of someone she would have loved to be typical of all her subjects: a horseman, and true countryman, who divided his time between the international bloodstock circuit and an old rectory in rural Yorkshire. Whereas we knew that her great age was finally catching up with the monarch, James Delahooke's abrupt departure for a grouse...

Jean-Claude Rouget is not prone to hyperbole so, when the decorated French handler compared the unexposed Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) to his only G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) earlier this week, some people did a double take. Not Benoit Jeffroy, who manages Haras de Bouquetot on behalf of the Al Shaqab operation. Jeffroy has long been aware of the standing in which the multiple Classic-winning trainer has held Al Hakeem and, when the colt won the Listed Prix de Suresnes at Chantilly on...

Whichever way you slice it, the green, white and orange of the Irish tricolour ran right through the middle of last year's Cheltenham Festival results. Some 28 races were run during the four biggest days in the jumps racing calendar, and the Irish raiding party won an unprecedented 23 of them. This haul included the four championship prizes, as Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) won the Champion Hurdle, Put The Kettle On (Ire) (Stowaway {GB}) claimed the Champion Chase, Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) took the Stayers' Hurdle and Minella Indo...

Multiple Group 1 winner and sire Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) (Danehill--Love Me True, by Kingmambo) died in his paddock at Drakenstein Stud in South Africa on Friday. The 17-year-old had been pensioned in October. "It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Duke Of Marmalade," Drakenstein Stud tweeted on Friday. "He died peacefully in his paddock this morning. He was a hero to many on the racetrack including ourselves, and a true gentleman at stud. "His legacy will live on through his progeny to come and his...

Thanks to advances in obstetrics, our own species is blessed to no longer confront quite so frequently the awful paradox that routinely confronted our ancestors: the death of a mother, as the cost of new life. And, of course, even a Thoroughbred as precious and cherished as Kind (Ire) (Danehill) is ultimately always livestock, prone to the kind of mishaps that tend to school the stockman in understatement whether facing triumph or disaster. But the consolation that we can seek, on their behalf, is the same: legacy. Undoubtedly there will...