National Stud

Can you see her still, in your mind's eye, that dark bay filly with a gait so ungainly as to almost belie her brilliance? Almost. But make no mistake, Attraction was brilliant, with a steeliness to match. The Irn Bru of racehorses: made in Scotland from girders. "People label horses as tough and talk about horses like Double Trigger being tough. Well, he wasn't particularly tough. I've encountered three horses in my career, I would say, that were exceptionally tough and they were all mares." So says Mark Johnston, the...

A mistake made by the organisers of the Racing League was to underestimate just how much certain racing colours resonate with those watching the action. All of us who have followed racing over the years will have owners and trainers we like to get behind. Even when scanning down a race card in the paper each morning, certain sets of silks act as an automatic signpost as to the potential quality of the races to come.   It is very clear the regard in which Robert Sangster was held during...

Following some pretty roasting foal trade at Goffs last week, action returns to Park Paddocks for the Tattersalls December Sale, which, after a Monday yearling session, features four days of weanlings. Four years ago at Tattersalls, Deborah O'Brien brought a neat and strong Tasleet yearling colt to the market through Bearstone Stud, where the breeder boards her mares, and sold him for 12,000gns. The result, after a further appearance at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, was Bradsell, winner of the G1 Flying Five, G1 Nunthorpe, G1 King's Stand and G2...

The multiple Group 2 winner Diego Velazquez is set to take up stallion duties at the National Stud in 2026, following his purchase by Sam Sangster Bloodstock on behalf of a syndicate. The son of Frankel will continue his racing career in the care of trainer Aidan O'Brien but will run in the renowned Sangster silks for the remainder of the 2025 season. Last seen winning the G2 Minstrel Stakes at the Curragh, Diego Velazquez is set to make his next appearance in Sunday's G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at...

King Charles III and Queen Camilla were in Newmarket on Tuesday, beginning their first official tour of British horseracing's headquarters with a visit to the National Stud and a meet-and-greet with the four resident stallions. Their Majesties, both owner-breeders, are honorary members of the Jockey Club and became joint-patrons in 2024, while the Queen is patron of the National Stud, its breeding and education arm, as well as the National Horseracing Museum. The King and Queen were received by the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Julie Spence, and introduced to the stud's...

The latest batch of National Stud students to graduate from both the Level 3 Stud Management and Sales Consignment course and Entry To Stud Employment (E2SE) programme celebrated their achievements at the Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket on Friday. Abigail Parker received the Tim Dunlop Memorial Award for Top Student after demonstrating outstanding work across both the practical and academic elements of the course. At the ceremony hosted by former Great British Racing CEO Rod Street, Leo Wilson was presented with the TBA's Entry To Stud Employment top student award....

From Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel to James Ingram and Michael McDonald, the personal playlist of Phil Cunningham, carried in the names of many of his horses over the years, has provided the perfect accompaniment to some memorable days on the turf.  In fact, back in 2007, legendary singer/songwriter Steve Harley, who died last year, was spotted among the merry throng after Cunningham's Cockney Rebel (Ire) sprang a 25/1 surprise in the 2,000 Guineas. He would go on to complete a Classic double at the Curragh three weeks later.  On...

The National Stud in Newmarket has reopened its doors for guided tours for the season. Through Discover Newmarket, visitors can visit the 500-acre site in the heart of Britain's racing and breeding community with a chance to meet the mares, foals and four resident stallions, including the great stayer Stradivarius (Ire) and new arrival Bradsell (GB). Living legends such as Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Lord Windermere (Ire) and top sprinter The Tin Man (GB) are also spending their retirement at the stud. Tours run from March to October every Friday, Saturday,...

The National Stud certainly cannot be accused of lacking variety in its stallion ranks. The champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) has been the kingpin of the stallion yard for the last two seasons but now he will have to make room for another much-loved star in Bradsell (GB), the champion sprinter in Europe in 2024. It didn't take long for Bradsell to make his presence felt. Having been sold at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale by Mark Grant to Tom Biggs and Archie Watson, he made his debut exactly a month...

Time Test (GB) has been sold by the National Stud to continue his stud career in Turkey. A statement released by the Turkish Jockey Club on Friday read, "Another successful name, purchased by the Turkish Jockey Club, is coming to our country to serve our breeders starting from the 2025 breeding season. Time Test, whose import operations are ongoing, will stand in our country in 2025." A dual Group 2 winner in Britain for his owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms and trainer Roger Charlton, Time Test, by Dubawi (Ire) out of the Group...

It's probably now just about safe for the TDN team to leave our desks briefly without fear of another stallion fee announcement dropping into the inbox. So, now that the numbers are in, here is a little further investigation as to who's going where and for how much. There were cautionary notes among last year's stallion fee announcements, just as there have been again this time around, which is no surprise given that the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has dropped again, this time by six per cent, to...

Mutasaabeq (GB) will be leaving the National Stud in Newmarket after one covering season, having been sold to stand at stud in India.  The Shadwell-bred son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Classic winner Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway) won back-to-back runnings of the G2 Joel Stakes at Newmarket, where he also won the G2 Bet 365 Mile in the year it was transferred from Sandown. He retired at the end of his five-year-old season and covered 52 mares this spring. Explaining the difficult decision to sell one of the National Stud's five...