Unique Attractions of Floors Blood

In a sense, every breeder is a legatee. And each, in turn, strives to contribute a legacy of his or her own; to develop families that serve not only a contemporary stable, but also the breed as it evolves through the generations. To that extent, then, perhaps the family and many friends grieving the late Guy, Duke of Roxburghe, can find some comfort even in the poignant part-dispersal of a stud that produced one of the most accomplished Thoroughbreds ever bred in Scotland. For wherever his bloodlines are now transfused, so will the 10^th Duke's skill and enthusiasm be preserved.

There are one or two more concrete consolations. The departure of seven foals and seven mares, through the December Sale at Tattersalls, will not amount to a complete dispersal of Floors Stud. Roxburghe's widow and youngest son intend to honour his memory by maintaining a modest foothold on the Turf. Along with the venerable Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}), for instance, they will be keeping her daughter Motion (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who had shown much promise on the Middleham gallops before sadly injuring herself on her sole start at Pontefract this summer. The other principal family developed by the late Duke, moreover, will remain represented by Blinking (GB) (Marju {Ire}), a sister to multiple Hong Kong champion Viva Pataca (HK) (known as Comic Strip (GB) before export).

Blinking is largely blind; Attraction is rising 20. There are humane considerations, then, notwithstanding all the difficulties historically inevitable in the inheritance of great estates.

At the same time, the bloodlines cultivated by the late Duke—who died last August, at just 64—will now be further secured by incorporation into other breeding programmes. These may well be much bigger, as we saw at the October Sale when Attraction's yearling colt by Frankel (GB) (duly a brother to her best son Elarqam (GB)) brought 1,100,000gns from Godolphin in this same ring.

That was an expressive compliment to what was only ever a boutique stud; “a hick operation in the Borders,” as the late Duke himself described it, with characteristic deprecation. And his son George Innes-Ker, who will be maintaining that family connection along with his mother, hopes that these bloodlines will now continue to thrive even when transplanted from Floors—that glorious intervention by humankind among the glorious work of nature all along the banks of the Tweed.

“Mum and I hope we can keep his legacy going, albeit it will be slightly different and with a smaller number of mares,” Innes-Ker said. “Hopefully we can do something where we'll be able to stand back and say Dad would be proud of our efforts. But we'll also be very proud if any of the mares and fillies that are being sold, wherever they end up, can go on producing and keep his success going.”

Innes-Ker was still very young, 11 or 12, when his father asked him to choose between polo and the Turf. Happily, he has never regretted his decision.

“I'm the youngest of five siblings but Dad had to wait for me to have one who shared his love of racing!” he said. “I hope that gave him some joy, that he had someone to speak to about a passion to which he gave so much time and thought. I loved to hear him explaining all the decisions he had made: why he had chosen certain matings for certain mares; how he was trying to keep families going, letting colts go but keeping the fillies; and so on. All that has been instilled into me since I was very small.

“The two biggest excitements for him were clearly Attraction being such a wonderful filly on the track, and then also becoming such a good broodmare. That doesn't always happen, obviously. There's often that suggestion you should go one step away from those good racemares. But Attraction has been the most incredible mother. She has this amazing ability to produce friendly foals, and Dad was never happier than when standing out there among them, sharing polo mints with the mares.”

Innes-Ker pays tribute to the work of stud manager Chris Gillon and his team in preparing all the stock for sale. So, too, does bloodstock agent Ed Sackville, who has a long association with the farm and is now assisting with this difficult process. At the sale itself, however, the consignment is being entrusted to Kiltinan Castle Stud, the foals in sequence from Lot 900 on Friday and the mares from Lot 1691 next Tuesday.

“The horses have been prepped at Floors,” Sackville said. “That was also the case with the yearlings, and those obviously sold fantastically well. But it's just a lot of horses, with limited staff, so we thought an outside consignor would take some of the pressure off. Simon Marsh has long been a great friend of both Guy and the Duchess, and he has been a significant help over the last year.”

Sackville himself goes back a long way with the family, having been at school and university respectively with a couple of the children; he also served his own apprenticeship with John Warren, a friend and advisor of the late Duke.

“Guy was a wonderful man,” Sackville said. “He absolutely loved his racing and breeding, and became an integral part of the industry—including, in his last years, as chairman of the National Stud.”

It was in that role that Roxburghe formed a strong regard for Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is the sire of the first foal [Lot 900] under the hammer, a daughter of the stakes-placed Dusty Answer (GB) (Zafonic)—herself a half-sister to the dam of Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and to the second dam of recent G1 St Leger runner-up Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}).

“Guy was integral to the purchase of Time Test by the National Stud,” Sackville said. “So this was a mating he was very keen to use. We've all seen the success of Night Of Thunder (Ire) and we hope that Time Test can also show Dubawi's merit as a sire of sires. He has certainly produced some very nice yearlings and, while the mare is relatively exposed [G2 Italian Oaks runner-up among eight winners from 11 runners] by this stage, it's a lovely back family.”

Time Test also accounts for the foal carried by Lot 1692, Lady Glinka (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), an unraced sister to Group 1-placed juvenile Mikhail Glinka (Ire), their dam in turn a full-sister to Derby winner and champion 2-year-old Sir Percy (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}). Her filly by Zoffany (Ire), meanwhile, is offered as Lot 901.

“This is a foal that's doing very well physically,” Sackville said. “She has really thrived with every month that has passed. Zoffany has had a good year, with a top Irish 2-year-old in Thunder Moon (Ire). And with a Galileo mare, obviously, anything is possible.”

Another daughter of the perennial champion sire is the 7-year-old Hibiscus (Ire), who will have the benefit of a Siyouni (Fr) cover when last of the draft as Lot 1697. She is a Listed-placed sister to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line Of Duty (Ire), the pair out of relegated G1 1,000 Guiness “winner” Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).

“She's also a half-sister to Onassis (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who's a filly going places,” Sackville said, noting her eye-catching performance in the GI Qipco British Champions' Sprint. “Obviously Hibiscus is out of a Classic winner in all but name, and her Fastnet Rock (Aus) filly made 200,000gns at the October Sale. And we think her Lope De Vega (Ire) colt [Lot 906] will go very well. He's a really lovely physical, an imposing, good-walking colt.”

A Lope De Vega cover, meanwhile, is only one of the shining attributes of Deep Inside (Fr) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) (lot 1696), a 6-year-old sibling to dual Group 3 winner Chrysanthemum (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

“This is an absolute beauty,” Sackville stressed. “She's a really good-looking mare with a fantastic cover in her. She could go on and be anything, really. And she has a cracking Kingman colt [Lot 946, consigned by West Blagdon Stud] in the sale, too.”

Lope De Vega is also the sire of Lot 903, a filly out of Attraction's graded stakes-placed half-sister Federation (GB) (Motivator {GB}), who will herself be offered as Lot 1693 carrying a foal by Starspangledbanner (Aus).

“Federation has a pretty smart 2-year-old in Japan, who beat colts in her maiden and then finished second in listed company,” Sackville said. “Obviously the family is very dear to our hearts and Lope De Vega gives the mare a fantastic chance. She has a Muhaarar (GB) colt who's going to Michael Bell and, as for her Starspangledbanner cover, I think he is unbelievably good value and has had a very good last couple of years.”

Another half-sister to Attraction is Fusion (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (Lot 1691)—her Siyouni colt sells as Lot 904—while the late Duke's other trademark family will be represented by listed winner Twitch (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), an 8-year-old daughter of the aforementioned Blinking. She is in foal to Magna Grecia (Ire).

“Yes, this is Guy's other great family,” Sackville said of Lot 1694. “And it's all still very current. There are lots of females breeding under the first dam, and Twitch herself has a Siyouni yearling filly and a Kingman colt on the ground.”

The covering sire, Magna Grecia (Ire), also happens to be a half-brother to Prance (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire})—whose daughter by his own sire Invincible Spirit is offered as Lot 905. Prance's only foal of racing age won at Goodwood in September, but the family has of course received a rather more significant update since the publication of the catalogue in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. success of St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})—another sibling to Prance and Magna Grecia.

“Obviously that's fantastic for the page,” Sackville said. “And Prance's yearling colt by Lope De Vega made 400,000gns [from Shadwell] at the October Sale, so this is a foal I'd be very excited about.”

Magna Grecia was still only a yearling when Prance was bought by John and Jake Warren for 170,000gns in this sale four years ago. And another of the stud's developing projects is Merry Jaunt (Street Sense), a daughter of GI Yellow Ribbon S. winner Light Jig (GB) (Danehill) acquired for 360,000gns from Juddmonte in 2013. She has already produced a stakes filly for Floors and only last week her 2-year-old by Kingman, Royal Pleasure (Ire), made a winning debut at Wolverhampton.

“I don't know what the statistics might be, for Sir Mark Prescott having first-time-out winners, but I would say it's a pretty rare occurrence,” Sackville remarked. “Obviously we were delighted by that update and, from a lovely young Juddmonte family, this mare [Lot 1695] could be anything—not least with her cover by Night Of Thunder, whose fee has gone up from €25,000 to €75,000 since we sent her to him. We'll be sad to lose her.”

But that is the kind of bittersweet experience beckoning all involved: a mixture of pride and sadness, with a precious residue of hope for the future of these bloodlines.

A few days ago Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), co-bred by the late Duke with Highclere Stud, won a Cartier Award as champion 3-year-old. Innes-Ker knew how proud his father would be, looking down. “As Lady Carolyn [Warren] said, she knew that 'upstairs' Dad and her own father would be making so much noise about that together,” he said.

Now it is about achieving a balance between a filial aspiration to extend the Roxburghe saga on the Turf, and pragmatic acknowledgement of the constraints.

“Mum lost her own father two weeks after losing her husband, so her world was really turned upside down,” Innes-Ker explained. “So whatever we could do, with the horses, we just wanted to be manageable; something we can love doing, and control.

“It's wonderful to know that Attraction is carrying a filly (by Kingman). Dad was so unlucky with her first two daughters: one died of grass sickness and the other was stung on the back of her neck, probably by a horsefly, keeled over and broke her neck there in the yard. After so many colts, it's great to have this filly on the way.”

Those who knew the late Duke only on the Turf may not have realised quite how accomplished he was. The death of his own father had been just as premature, and he inherited his title and estates at just 19—only months after being awarded the Sword of Honour as the top officer cadet of his intake at Sandhurst, where he was also recognised as an outstanding all-round sportsman. He proceeded to show great flair and energy in meeting the challenge of modernising his ancient estates; while all of us who did encounter him on the Turf can attest to his ease and charm of manner.

“Obviously these horses will all be sold with a tinge of sadness,” said Sackville. “It will be an emotional day. But hopefully it will also be a great opportunity for someone else to continue the legacy.”