One Master

As Royal Ascot drew to a close on Saturday, one of its luminaries of yesteryear, Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}), died peacefully in America at the age of 26. The winner of the Norfolk Stakes in 2000, she was an outstanding two-year-old for William Haggas, initially racing for her breeders, the trainer's father-in-law Lester Piggott and Tony Hirschfield, before being bought by Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stable. Having already won twice prior to Ascot, she then went on to win the Weatherbys Super Sprint and G2 Flying...

Roy and Gretchen Jackson's triple G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has produced her first foal, a Dubawi (Ire) colt born on Jan. 27, and will be bred back to Frankel (GB), Gretchen Jackson told the TDN. One Master is one of around five mares that the Jacksons-the Pennsylvania-based breeders of Classic winners on both sides of the Atlantic in George Washington (Ire) and Barbaro-keep at New England Stud in Newmarket. She is a second generation homebred for the Jacksons' Lael Stables; they bought...

When Roy and Gretchen Jackson purchased their 190-acre property in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1978, they christened it Lael Farm, the Gaelic word for loyalty. Today, more than 40 years into the couples' transatlantic forays in the world of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, that name could hardly be more appropriate. The Jacksons, both lifelong horse people, became household names in the sport and beyond in 2006 during their months-long attempt to save the life of their GI Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (Dynaformer) after the colt suffered what was ultimately a...

Only three horses in the world finished the season with a rating higher than Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), and certainly none of them have won Group 1 races in two hemispheres within 2020. Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's homebred 6-year-old may not have received the recognition he deserves for his exploits throughout the year, but it is safe to say that he is fully appreciated by his trainer William Haggas and jockey Tom Marquand. It is also not an exaggeration to say that, as much of the racing world went into...

Lael Stable homebred One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}-Enticing {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}), the three-time G1 Prix de la Foret winner, has been retired from racing and will take up residence at New England Stud, Racing Post reports. The 6-year-old mare, trained by William Haggas for Roy and Gretchen Jackson, only got going in the late summer of her 3-year-old campaign but quickly made up for lost time, breaking her maiden at second asking before winning the Listed October S. at Ascot. She picked up a first pattern win the...

Triple G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has been scratched from Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland after suffering from set-fast, or 'tying up.' Speaking from Newmarket, trainer William Haggas said, "She got a bit set-fast on her first morning out. Her muscle enzymes are too high. I'm disappointed, but very pleased that they are not risking her at all." A homebred for Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stable, the 6-year-old One Master has won the seven furlong Foret on the Prix de...

Well, we know that such Europeans as have been able to make the trip--another lockdown began in England on Thursday--won't be in the slightest danger of catching anything on the dirt track. If we can meanwhile break the shackles of the pandemic as well, maybe someone might feel sufficiently liberated finally to have another go next year. But at least the raiders should again be in the thick of things over on the grass. Now that the Breeders' Cup returns to Kentucky, moreover, they will be expecting an especially congenial...

LEXINGTON, KY--With temperatures plunging into subzero depths overnight on Sunday, there was a truly wintery feel at Keeneland on Monday morning to coincide with the release from quarantine-a concept that many more of their human custodians can relate to in 2020--of most of the European Breeders' Cup raiders. (Click here for a video of European Breeders' Cup contenders training on Monday) As tractors worked over the main dirt course attempting to thaw it, training was restricted in the early morning hours to Keeneland's training track, and the Jessica Harrington-trained fillies...

Lael Stable's globetrotting One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) had saluted just once in 10 starts since annexing the 2018 G1 Prix de Foret, doubling up in the latest renewal of that seven-furlong test, and she went postward for Friday's G3 Saint Clair Oak Tree S. at Goodwood as the 6-4 favourite coming back off a close-up fourth in this month's G1 Falmouth S. at Newmarket. Settled in a midfield seventh along the rail after an alert getaway from the inside stall, she was caught in a pocket--a la Kameko...

The grass gallops are now open on Newmarket's Warren Hill—a sure sign that spring is on the way, and formerly part of the traditional countdown to the start of the Flat season. These days, however, the top-class Flat action barely stops throughout the year which means that before the wraps come off the British turf season at Doncaster on Mar. 28, a number of the town's trainers will already have had some of their leading lights in action around the world. This spring promises to have a more international outlook...