Sir Mark Prescott

It's all about Camelot really, isn't it? Twelve years on and some of us are still not over him being denied the Triple Crown, but every new Group 1 winner he sires helps to ease the pain a little.  Though this column doesn't like to hear a word against him, it is fair to say that Camelot has his detractors. His latest Classic winner Los Angeles (Ire) doesn't look the most relaxed of horses but once the colt's mind is engaged in his primary job of galloping then it is...

Honed and prepped by Sir Mark Prescott in two listed contests in Germany, the Elite Racing Club's Tiffany (Ire) (Farhh {GB}--Affinity {GB}, by Sadler's Wells) stepped on to a bigger stage on Friday only to announce herself a new star actor in Newcastle's G3 Hoppings Fillies' Stakes. Always travelling comfortably tucked in behind the leaders by Luke Morris, the 7-2 joint-favourite was able to move to the front without the industry with which her talented rider is renowned passing two out. Forging clear of a smart bunch for this renewal,...

ASCOT, UK--A wishlist for the first day of Royal Ascot would certainly have included the hope that a Classic-winning colt would step forward and announce himself as a proper horse, a major win for an international traveller, and the sight of the inimitable Sir Mark Prescott in the winner's enclosure. Tick. Tick. Tick. We'll throw in to the mix a tearful Mark Loughnane proclaiming the 80/1 Coventry S. victory for his jockey son Billy as "the best ever moment of my life", and Sam Sangster, equally tearful as his father's...

Marsha (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}--Marlinka {GB}, by Marju {Ire}), a two-time Group 1-winning sprinter who later set a record price for a Thoroughbred sold at public auction in Europe, has passed away aged 10, according to multiple reports. Bred and raced by the Elite Racing Club and trained by Sir Mark Prescott, Marsha made the first nine starts of her career at eight different venues across England and Ireland, winning listed events at Ayr and York in the summer of 2016 before venturing beyond the borders of the United Kingdom for...

With over 2,000 winners to his credit since 1970, trainer Sir Mark Prescott has joined the Judging Panel for the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame after the passing of James Delahooke, the organisation said in a release on Wednesday. "The Hall of Fame is a great initiative that promotes the best in our sport and stimulates further interest in the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket," Prescott said. "I'm surprised and honoured to be invited to join such a tip-top Hall of Fame judging panel, and to be tasked...

There can have been no finer example of reward for effort than the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Not only for the mare herself, slogging through the Longchamp mud with five Group 1 wins already to her name, but for her trainer Sir Mark Prescott and owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing, who have collectively a century of experience in this great sport between them. Then there was her jockey, Luke Morris. Not the most fashionable member of the British weighing-room, but certainly the most worthy, for...

Jockey Luke Morris, best known for his winning ride aboard Kirsten Rausing's Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in this year's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, registered the 2000th victory of his career when guiding Recuerdame (The Factor) to a half-length success Monday at Lingfield. Though he currently sits on 94 winners for the year, Morris has brought up better than 100 each year since 2011. Eight of Morris's nine career Group 1 winners has come for Alpinista's trainer Sir Mark Prescott, who told Sporting Life: "Its a great tribute to...

The six-time Group 1 winner and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Alwilda {GB}, by Hernando {Fr}) has been retired from racing after a "slight setback" and will not contest the G1 Japan Cup at the end of the month. The 5-year-old, bred and owned by Kirsten Rausing and trained by Sir Mark Prescott, recorded her six top-level wins in consecutive starts in Germany, England and France in the last two seasons, taking her unbeaten stretch to eight races in 16 months. In total, she ran...

Carried out in driving rain and accompanying gloom, Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe went to Kirsten Rausing's Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) who with her ever-whitening coat and mud-dappled white silks navigated what resembled a ploughed field like a trail of luminescence at ParisLongchamp. Taking the eye throughout as she made easy work of the swiftly-deteriorating conditions under Luke Morris, who had been in action on the all-weather at Wolverhampton the night before, the 10-3 favourite waited with all the learned patience of such a beautifully-nurtured 5-year-old for...

Sir Mark Prescott will happily recount the story of the time he bashed his former pupil assistant William Haggas over the head with a frying pan for oversleeping. He will also reflect with pleasure on the great pride he felt when Haggas won the Derby in 1996 with Shaamit (Ire). When it comes to being a benevolent dictator, the Prescott pendulum has, by his own admission, swung more from dictatorship towards benevolence in recent years and, more than anyone involved in British racing, the master of Heath House cares deeply...

Kirsten Rausing's homebred 5-year-old mare Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), unbeaten through five tests last term, disposed of esteemed rivals in last month's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on seasonal return and maintained her winning streak with a decisive success as the 7-4 favourite in a stellar edition of Thursday's G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks on the Knavesmire, a "Win And You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in November. Successful in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, G1 Preis von Europa and G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern...

The first episode in a five-part video series to showcase the various aspects that make owning a horse-in-training in Britain worthwhile, was launched by Great British Racing International (GBRI) on Monday. Titled 'Be A Part Of it: Owning In Britain', the first video is Sir Mark Prescott reflecting on the history and heritage that underpins the British racing experience. Additional videos will be released every Monday. The series, backed by the National Trainers' Federation (NTF), will also show the training environment that Thoroughbreds are exposed to in Britain, as well...