It will be business at usual at Juddmonte Farms after Juddmonte Group Chief Executive Douglas Erskine Crum told ITV on Saturday that there will be “no change” following the death of the global operation's founder Prince Khalid Abdullah last week.
Abdullah had raced 118 Group or Grade I winners since entering the game just over 40 years ago, of which he bred 102 of those. He owned stud farms in the UK, Ireland and Kentucky.
“The family has been for some time and still is very committed to keeping Juddmonte as it is going, focusing on the broodmare band, focusing on the homebred operation,” Erskine Crum told ITV Racing. “One of the last decisions in which the prince was involved was the matings for this year, in other words where his 200-odd broodmares are going to go. Whether they are going to go to Frankel, Kingman or some of the great stallions across the world.
“And those horses will be born next year and will race as 3-year-olds in 2025, so if we have a champion in 2025 you will be able to say the prince was actually involved directly in the decision making.
“Juddmonte will continue. Continuity is key for any breeding and racing operation. Of course things change and indeed the prince made some fairly substantial changes in the number of broodmares six or seven years ago, but those changes are necessary to keep the business running and also necessary to make sure that essential continuity of the broodmare is enhanced.”
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