Continuity is what was
stressed by Juddmonte’s chief executive Douglas Erskine Crum when he
announced early in 2021 that the recently deceased Khalid Abdullah’s
breeding and racing institution would remain intact.
Two
years on he has been true to his word. There has already been a
symbolic success in the 2,000 Guineas for Chaldean, who was the first
winner in that particular Classic in the instantly recognisable pink,
green and white silks since the staggering performance of his father
Frankel in 2011.
Juddmonte
also has a Frankel-sired Derby contender in Arrest, who moved into the
top three in the Epsom market after coasting around Chester, and in the
last few days alone the US export Whitebeam looked destined for the top
of the turf division at Pimlico and Haskoy perhaps earned herself a
crack at the Gold Cup by winning at Newbury.
For
more than 40 years, it had been Abdullah’s passion and ambition that
produced an almost never-ending list of exceptional racehorses. In that
sense, nothing has changed.
"The
basis to all our work is continuity," says Erskine Crum, reaching for
the same description as he outlines the present era. "If there’s one
word about Juddmonte’s strategy, it’s that."
Perhaps
the only thing that feels unusual about Chaldean and Arrest is that
they were bought from the sales, both as foals at the end of 2020, given
that most of the recent luminaries, such as Frankel and Enable, came
from carefully developed families from the home farms. Erskine Crum
explains that was just another part of specific directives.
"When
Prince Khalid set up the operation in the early 80s he bought a very
select band of broodmares, so in many ways you’ve got to buy to start,"
he says.
"Through the
years obviously it has become increasingly homebred, but there has been a
change over the last ten years as part of a long-term strategy to
provide that continuity.
"We’ve
been consistent in America, which is a third of Juddmonte's operation,
and our general manager there, Garrett O’Rourke, was asked by the Prince
specifically to buy dirt colts.
"The result was [2016 world
champion] Arrogate, who Garrett chose, and now we have Elite Power,
again chosen by Garrett. We also focused on Garrett purchasing suitable
broodmares for Arrogate, who of course sadly died, and now for Mandaloun
and Elite Power when he hopefully becomes another stallion for
Juddmonte USA."
He adds:
"In the UK it’s been slightly different but, again, it’s been
consistent. We’ve bought potential broodmares to get new blood into the
band, including some really successful ones. We’re trying to get new
blood every year, but of course you can’t tell the success of those
broodmares for many years.
"Secondly,
we’ve looked to support Frankel and Kingman, to support our breeders,
and that’s why we bought Chaldean, Arrest and others. Thirdly, on the
very odd occasion, we’ve bought something that’s just really nice."
Affection for Chaldean growing
Barry
Mahon, who has stepped into the European racing manager position
vacated by Teddy Grimthorpe in 2021, was heading Juddmonte’s Irish stud
operation when Chaldean arrived.
"I first saw him down in the Highflyer in Newmarket," he says.
"He
came out of the stable and did a very unusual thing for a late May foal
– he put his head down and walked along like an old professional. That
has probably set the tone for the rest of his life really.
"He
came straight back here from the foal sale and spent a summer out at
grass, never had a scratch, a cold, a temperature or anything, and
through the breaking process he was ridden by a girl here called Gabby
and was just a very simple, genuine horse.
"A
lot of the good ones have tended to be like that. They’re there,
there’s never a problem and they just put their head down and get on
with their work."
The
only possible issue Mahon remembers is that Chaldean was on the small
side, on account of his age, but he was precocious enough to have
appeared in June and run four times before lifting the Dewhurst, equally
the first occasion Juddmonte had won the two-year-old decider since
Frankel.
"You’d always be nervous
when they’re born on that date that when they get to May, June, July
they can start to grow and get a little weak on you, but certainly
during the winter and early spring before he went to Andrew Balding, he
looked like he’d be a nice two-year-old, very strong and compact," he
says.
"We couldn’t factor
in whether he'd get a growth spurt, but luckily he has just continued
to thrive on racing and, while he’s grown, he’s stayed very strong
throughout the process."
Mahon
saw Chaldean in the early spring and reckoned he had grown again by the
time of the Guineas. Wet weather, rather than the mishap in unseating
Frankie Dettori in the Greenham Stakes, had been his biggest concern,
but he had immediate reassurance from the stable.
"To
be honest I’m always a touch pessimistic, never confident, but in
fairness to Andrew and the rest of his team, they were very confident,"
he says. "Even on the morning of the race, when the rain was coming, he
wasn’t worried, I was."
A family affair
Erskine
Crum must oversee an estate which encompasses eight main farm premises
across Ireland, Britain and the US, adding and subtracting with the
guidance of the various managers as part of the final equation.
Juddmonte
is now chaired by Abdullah’s three sons, Prince Fahad, Prince Ahmad and
Prince Saud. Their father espoused a policy of running his hobby as a
business and Erskine Crum maintains that a decision to acquire a colt
such as Chaldean, who cost 550,000gns from Whitsbury Manor, comes with
parameters.
"From
Juddmonte’s point of view, we always look long term, therefore it’s
great to win the 2,000 Guineas and what it shows is that our recent
buying policy has been very successful, but with all the other winners
we’ve had over the years the real strength of Juddmonte is the broodmare
band," he says.
"I would stress that we have a budget, we’re very disciplined and will not bid above the amount we value the horse at."
There
are clearly huge costs associated with the studs and north of 200
horses in training at any one time around the world. Then again, both
Frankel and Kingman contribute by covering large books at six-figure
fees, supported further by Bated Breath, Expert Eye, Oasis Dream and
Mandaloun.
An example of the financial
rigour can be seen publicly by Juddmonte’s activity last year at
Tattersalls and Goffs, spending a little over £5 million on a few foals
and yearlings, including Chaldean’s Kingman half-sister for
1,000,000gns. This was more than balanced by receipts from sales of
horses in training and mares deemed surplus to the broodmare band but
coveted by other breeders.
"Because
we do have a defined budget, it puts even more pressure on those who
are giving recommendations for sales," says Erskine Crum.
"Garrett
has been general manager in the US for over 30 years, it’s he who has
chosen all these horses and we haven’t bought many. Here in Europe, it’s
now Simon Mockridge and Barry Mahon, but also due credit to Teddy
Grimthorpe and Rory Mahon, who were both involved in the earlier days
and until fairly recently.
"We
have such a strong team of horsemen and that’s something I must
emphasise, as well as the strength of the broodmare band itself."
There
are high hopes for the latest racing crops in the US, with Erskine Crum
identifying the three-year-old fillies to be a particularly nice bunch.
Some will eventually replenish those in a system which is constantly
scrutinised.
"About ten
years ago Prince Khalid decided to reduce the size of the broodmare band
to focus even more on quality," he says. "We went from about 200
broodmares in the UK to 130, and from 100 in America to now about 70, so
in total we’ve gone from about 300 to 200.
"To
many people that's a large broodmare band but, in comparison to some,
it’s actually quite small! One of the comments I get repeatedly is about
the extraordinary way in which the broodmare band isn't huge but
continues to produce stallions, top racehorses and lovely mares coming
back to the band."
Abdullah,
until his final years, was a frequent sight on European racecourses in
the spring and summer months. It had seemed both poignant and
encouraging that Prince Saud made an appearance on the Rowley Mile to
see Chaldean win, later speaking briefly to ITV, where he maintained
that the family’s commitment to racing, and particularly in Britain, was
"unwavering".
The same brother was seen at Newbury welcoming in Haskoy, and Erskine Crum confirms that all of them take a very close interest.
"The
fact is they are, all three, extremely busy businessmen and chairmen of
important companies based in Riyadh," he says. "With Covid and all
sorts of other issues, they’ve not been to Europe as much as they would
have liked, and as much as they might have done in the past.
"They
are kept informed on a very regular basis, they’re involved with every
purchase, every sale, every top runner, they’re choosing the races.
Okay, it’s done on the telephone or by email because they’re based in
Riyadh, but they're very involved and and make all the major decisions –
it works extremely well."
Mahon felt the significance of the occasion at Newmarket, too.
"It
meant a huge amount," he says. "As a group we suffered a big loss with
the passing of Prince Khalid. There was a lot of uncertainty; a lot of
people are employed by Juddmonte – staff, families, everything.
"The
fact that in the last two years we’ve had two Classic winners, Westover
in the Irish Derby and Chaldean this year, just reinforces that
Juddmonte is quality, competing at the highest level.
"To
have Prince Saud there on the day and for him to reiterate to the
racing public that Juddmonte is here to continue to carry on the legacy
of their father, that's marvellous."
Working
life was never going to be exactly the same without Juddmonte’s founder
and its most integral member but, as Erskine Crum explains: "We always
look to what he would have done, and we follow his principles."
The Frankel factor
Abdullah
himself was characterised as an intensely private man, so much so that
his first racing adviser Humphrey Cottrill once recalled: "He was always
perfectly charming but, even after some time in his company, I knew
absolutely nothing about him as a person."
Everyone
will have a favourite Abdullah horse from their era, from Arrogate or
Banks Hill to Xaar or Zafonic, and the 117 homebred Group 1 winners will
swell with many more.
Recurring
families, so often kept with the same trainer, are what have made his
colours such a fixture, but he seemed to have gained particular
affection and respect from the racing community for his behaviour
towards the cherished Sir Henry Cecil, never deserting him during those
seasons in the doldrums.
The
reward was Frankel, their masterpiece and a phenomenon who should
supply many more reasons for the family to visit. Champion sire of
Britain once already, he currently has only a slim lead in the early
exchanges of this season but has put down a number of significant
markers aside from Chaldean.
Arrest
is joined by Lingfield Trial winner Military Order in the Betfred Derby
shake-up, while Soul Sister made a compelling charge for the Oaks by
landing the Musidora. Jannah Rose looked sensational in the Prix
Saint-Alary, while Military Order’s brother Adayar, Hurricane Lane,
Nashwa, Mostahdaf, Inspiral and others will all take high rank in Group
1s again.
Then in
Juddmonte silks there is still Westover, who can hardly be knocked for
finishing second to the world’s best horse, Equinox, in Dubai. It was
also a typically generous touch to send the final foal of Frankel’s dam,
Kind, a two-year-old Kingman colt named Kikkuli, to Roger Charlton’s
stable as Beckhampton was where the mare had earned her right to join
the breeding operation in the first place.
Erskine
Crum, who began in his role when Frankel retired to Banstead Manor a
decade ago, recognises that the 15-year-old is an endless source of
fascination.
"It’s
interesting with Frankel," he says. "It’s a very overused word but he is
unique. Name another horse which has been the greatest racehorse that
has ever lived and now looks as if he’s going to be one of the greatest
sires that’s ever lived.
"He's the most extraordinary horse. We’re very fortunate to have him."
Mahon’s family has been as
involved in Juddmonte as any other constituent part. His father, Rory,
has served at Ferrans Stud in County Meath, where the yearlings are
based, for just about its entirety and they shared a few jokes about
Frankel along the way, too.
"I
actually happened to see him as a foal at Coolmore, I was working down
around there at the time and the mare was over being covered," Barry
Mahon recalls. "He was a pretty outstanding foal. He was probably two
months old at that stage; he looked like a six-month-old foal.
"I
saw him somewhere along the line as a yearling, but every few months
I’d say to my father, 'How’s that Kind horse doing?' He’d always say,
'Don’t you be worrying about him.' He was always a remarkable prospect
and a standout, I believe.
"He’s been a remarkable horse in everything he’s put his hand to in his life, and long may it continue."
Mahon
feels he could probably come up with 100 more words to describe the
various jigsaw pieces which slot together for the full picture as to why
Juddmonte has been so successful but emphasises, as Erskine Crum does,
that Abdullah’s vision, determination and loyalty has been in turn
repaid by those in his employ.
Ultimately,
the unassuming founder always seemed to prefer the spotlight to be on
the horses themselves, and his bequest to world racing is colossal.
"Apart
from all his great racehorses, the Prince had four horses that I think
people would say were completely out of the ordinary," says Erskine
Crum. "Dancing Brave, Arrogate, Frankel and Enable. I think we’ve been
blessed that three have been in the last 15 years."