By Emma Berry
Depending on the era one first became immersed in racing, there are certain sets of colours that have particular resonance. For many, the brown and white hoops, white cap, carried by the late Gerry Oldham's horses, many of them homebred by his Citadel Stud, will be favourites. Over the years they have been worn by jockeys aboard such special horses as the brilliant stayer Sagaro (Ire) – who has the rare honour of having a race named after him at Ascot – and 2,000 Guineas victor Zino (GB), trained like Sagaro by Francois Boutin, as well as the Harry Wragg-trained Irish Derby-winning brothers Talgo (Ire) and Fidalgo (Ire).
The names of Oldham's colts always ended in an O, while his fillies ended in A. That theme, and those silks, have been continued by the owner-breeder's son James, with the distinctive hoops having most recently been carried to glory for him aboard Asinara (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}) at Ffos Las. The three-year-old is the seventh generation of her family to have raced for the Oldhams.
“My father was always one for loyalty and sticking with things,” says James Oldham. “He started out in the late forties, so it was a slightly different era back then, but obviously he had stints in the UK before mainly focusing on racing in France. Actually, the colours disappeared in the UK for quite a long time.”
The dispersal of the Citadel Stud, consigned by Gerry Oldham's longstanding friend and manager Peter Kavanagh's Kildaragh Stud, took place a little over a decade ago. A number of graduates have gone on to do well for other breeders, including Bocca Baciata (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}), from Asinara's family, who became a Group 2 winner for the Niarchos family's Flaxman Stables.
“We had a big dispersal sale on my father's death because it was too much to manage for me at the time,” Oldham says. “But I was very keen to hold on to one, which I raced briefly. That was the dam of Asinara and I got lucky. She got to Group 3 level before sadly she had to retire, but it was just important for me to keep something on.
“Now I'm doing it in a much, much smaller way than he ever was, but I love it, and I will never be anything other than small. My aim is to have three mares at any one time and leave it at that. At the moment I've just got the one but we'll see where we get to.”
That one is Kalsa (Ire), a Whipper half-sister to Bocca Baciata and full-sister to fellow Group 3 winner Topeka (Ire), who also ran third behind Beauty Parlour (GB) in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and was sold to Japan's Eishin Stables from the 2013 dispersal. Now 13, Kalsa, winner of the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc when trained by Robert Collet, is a permanent boarder at Watership Down Stud and has a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt heading to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
Kalsa wins the Prix Edmond Blanc in the historic Oldham colours | Scoop Dyga
“I started off by going to not particularly established stallions and yet we produced a few winners,” Oldham notes. Kalsa has so far bred three winners from her first four foals, including the four-time winner Tamarama (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}).
“No superstars yet, but on the back of that and a few conversations with Simon Marsh and with my father-in-law, who until his retirement was deeply involved in racing and has helped me along the way, we've actually gone to my dream stallion. Sea The Stars was the best horse I've ever seen live, and it was the best Arc I've ever seen.”
Oldham's wife Katrina is the daughter of Michael Goodbody, the former president of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association who managed Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum's Gainsborough Stud for 25 years.
“We were all pretty much hooked on racing,” he recalls. “That's how my father holidayed a lot of the time. Every August we used to decamp to Deauville, which was one of his loves, and that's all we did for two to three weeks every single year. I kept a very keen interest the whole way. And obviously with Peter Kavanagh and Brendan Hayes in Ireland, where the mares were, I got more involved in the latter part of his life, but then work called, really, so it couldn't be my main focus. But I actually married into a family which had been very involved in racing as well.
“So I've got it from all sides. Michael's been great to me over the years and we're extremely tight.”
To date, Oldham has raced only homebred fillies. “I haven't held on to any colts so far, but when I do they will end with an O. It came from my father's initials of GAO. That's how it all started out and we're continuing in that tradition,” he says.
“Elsewhere, I've got a little racing syndicate of a few friends but really I just want to try and breed something where we can get a bit of black type. I don't think Asinara will ever be a superstar, but [her trainer] Charlie Hills likes her and it would be lovely to try and pick up some black type with her.
“Tamarama we sold to Andrew Rosen and she was reasonably well rated in the end and went on to race in America. The dream of having my three mares would actually be to have three homebreds rather than buying them. So we'll see.”
Based in Hampshire in the south of England, Oldham has so far resisted in following his father's lead in racing horses in France.
“I would love to, and commercially it obviously makes a bit more sense,” he admits. “But France is just that much trickier to get to when you've got to fit it in with other things, although Charlie has sent me all around the country with Asinara. I've been to all sorts of places. But in practice I do like being able to see them race. I absolutely love it.”
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