Big Breeders' Cup For Cheveley Park

Cheveley Park Stud comes into this weekend's Breeders' Cup on something of a roll, with Persuasive (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) having won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and homebred Intimation (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) the G3 Prix de Flore during the last two weeks. Both those retire to the Cheveley Park broodmare band this year, and the stud has bolstered its stallion division as well after purchasing the majority share of GI Breeders' Cup Turf contender Ulysses (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Group 1-winning 2-year-old Unfortunately. The Cheveley Park silks will be carried at Del Mar this weekend by defending GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and 2-year-old filly Juliet Capulet (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who lines up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Kelsey Riley caught up with Cheveley Park Managing Director Chris Richardson after Cheveley Park recorded a double at Leicester on Monday.

KR: First of all, congratulations on the recent wins by Persuasive and Intimation. Can you tell us about the plans for those two fillies?

CR: Persuasive, that was very much her swansong. She hasn't had a very busy year, she only ran four times, but she ran a very good race in third in the Matron S. when she was badly drawn and there was no real pace and she was flying at the death and got denied but finished a very brave third. She went one better in the Sun Chariot where the ground had just dried up a bit and was a bit quick for her, where she finished second to Roly Poly, so it was no disgrace to be beaten by Hydrangea [in the Matron] and Roly Poly. We were thrilled we had some rain at Ascot and we had decided to give her that opportunity and she just showed her class, especially on that ground. That was her finale so now she's off to the paddocks and her likely mate is Frankel.

Intimation is a homebred. I purchased Persuasive as a yearling at Goffs for €180,000, but Intimation is a homebred Dubawi filly and she's a half-sister to a good filly that William Haggas trains called Mutakkayef, by Sea the Stars, who is a Group 2 winner. She's a filly we always felt had the ability to step up. She was a listed winner last year and Group 3 placed, but this year she's been pretty consistent early on. She was placed in a listed and a Group 3 and is another filly that just needs a bit of ease in the ground, probably a bit of influence from her damsire Pivotal, who is having an extraordinary year being the broodmare sire of Hydrangea, Cracksman and Rhododendron. We were thrilled she won the Prix de Flore in France. There's one more opportunity for her in France if the ground is suitable, a Group 3; she may have one more start before being retired to the paddocks. We're still up in the air [on breeding plans].

KR: Just the week before, Intimation's 2-year-old half-sister Veracious (GB) (Frankel {GB}) became a 'TDN Rising Star' when breaking her maiden impressively. Can you tell us about plans for her?

CR: Veracious ran a very nice race and we always thought a lot of her. Sir Michael [Stoute] had been saying she'd been showing plenty at home and it was nice that she got off the mark on her second start. We went to Newbury and she was a little green, a little immature mentally, on her first start; she didn't really appreciate the whole experience but she came on a ton for that and won impressively by over three lengths at Newmarket, I think beating a good field. She certainly looks like a filly with potential. She's now finished for this year and is now enjoying some green grass and comfortable paddocks at Cheveley Park Stud, so we look forward to her next year.

KR: Queen's Trust is winless since beating Lady Eli (Divine Park) at the Breeders' Cup last year. Can you talk about what her campaign has been like this year, and can she turn that form around this weekend?

CR: I hope so. At the end of the day she's a very talented filly, take nothing away from her ability, but unfortunately she just likes top of the ground, fast ground, and the races she's had this year haven't really gone in her favour in that respect. She's run soft, good soft, soft, which have not been in her favour. She ran very well in the Yorkshire Oaks when she was third but she was sixth in the Nassau, when once again the ground was soft, and in the Prix de l'Opera she had the ground once again go against her. Sir Michael is very pleased with her. He wouldn't have recommended we come back to America if he didn't feel she was still in good form. The trip being a little less this year, a mile and an eighth, is not ideal for us, but I think our mare has grown up mentally and hopefully she can get a good break and not get too far behind, which is her tendency. Hopefully she's grown up a little more and it's nice that she's got that opportunity to come back and try to defend her crown. We're hoping the momentum of Ascot and Persuasive's impressive win continues and we're looking forward to the weekend very much.

KR: You also have Juliet Capulet going for the Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Can you talk about her chances?

CR: She's a very tough filly. We bought her at Goffs, we paid €235,000 for her and she is a filly that has taken a little time for the penny to drop. She was very green in her first two or three races, didn't know what she was doing, but then came good to win her maiden and then ran a very respectable second in the Group 3 before winning the G2 Rockfel S. in impressive style. She's certainly a filly that has lots of speed. John Gosden was very pro and recommended we take a chance and bring her over because of that. She's a filly with a lot of speed. Whatever happens at Del Mar we'll go for a [Guineas] trial [next year]. She could be more a six, seven furlong filly, so a mile at Del Mar would suit her.

KR: You were back at Keeneland September this year after a bit of a hiatus and bought two fillies. Why did you decide to come back to buy American yearlings?

CR: It probably was following the success of Queen's Trust, putting us back on the international stage. [Cheveley Park owners] David and Patricia Thompson and the Thompson family are very passionate about their horses. They will have 125 horses in training next year. We breed some 135 mares of our own, so that gives us about 90 foals. It's always important to keep looking for new families, looking for new blood, so hence why after a lengthy number of years away from the Keeneland sale we thought it would be nice to see whether we could come find a couple fillies. I think probably Wesley Ward has had a big influence with regards to his success bringing horses here, especially at Royal Ascot. We were sort of targeting fillies that had a bit of European pedigree. The Medaglia d'Oro filly we bought is out of Laughing Lashes (Mr. Greeley), who was a good racemare who was second in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. It was also a great opportunity to be able to secure a filly by the world-renowned War Front. She's a beautiful filly out of a mare who has already produced a full-brother to her who is a stakes winner in War Envoy. It's a good mix of some fresh new sires which are unavailable in Europe and some new families with a bit of European connection.

KR: Could you ever see Cheveley Park establishing racing stables in America, or anywhere else globally?

CR: No, I think probably not at this point in time. [The Thompsons] very much enjoy being able to watch their horses and go when they can to see them run. They're in their 70s, which makes it more difficult when they're that far away. They're wonderfully enthusiastic about the business, but being in their late 70s, early 80s does preclude them from going that far afield. They enjoy supporting some 15 trainers in England.

KR: You've made some very significant additions to your stallion barn with the purchase of Group 1-winning 2-year-old Unfortunately (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), and with the purchase of a majority share in Ulysses. This comes at a time when some of your flagship stallions are ageing or pensioned; did this have an impact on these acquisitions?

CR: Indeed. Sadly we had to retire Medicean and Kyllachy, both which have been fantastic servants not only to Cheveley Park Stud but to the industry. The dear old boy Pivotal is 24 years of age and he's in good heart, he covered 60 mares this year and he'll be covering 50-odd mares, all being well, in 2018 at the age of 25. We were very conscious of the fact that we needed to bring in some new blood. The stallion roster here at Cheveley Park Stud has pretty much been sprinter orientated over the years but we have introduced back to our roster Intello, who was a French Derby winner who spent his last two seasons in England and then spent the last two years in France on an arrangement that we have with his owner/breeders the Wertheimer brothers. Unfortunately was very impressive when he won the [G2 Prix] Robert Papin and he was also very impressive when he won the Morny and we felt he suited our programme. The opportunity to stand Ulysses was a wonderful result for us. We're thrilled to be able to secure him and it gives us a slightly new dimension in the way we're going, slightly more towards the Classic stallion, the Classic sire line, rather than totally oriented around sprinting. We think it's very important that the industry in this part of the world encourage and embrace these middle-distance sires so we're thrilled that he'll be joining us and completing the roster of stallions that total eight which we can accommodate.

KR: You mentioned Pivotal has had a great year as a broodmare sire and will still be covering next year at 25. How is he doing?

CR: He looks fantastic and had another Group 1 winner this year, a horse called Brando who won the Maurice de Gheest. He's sired 26 individual Group 1 winners and it's so lovely to see that his broodmares are doing so well, having sired 50 or 60 individual stakes winners. He's a horse we've been fortunate to have, it's nice to have bred him and we have some 33 mares by him which will continue his legacy, many of whom probably will end up going to Ulysses at some point.