Armstrong Happy To Put Rotten Luck Behind Him After Coppull’s Richmond Romp

[Wandering Eyes]

David Armstrong has opened up on how a run of rotten luck has made him appreciate Coppull's Group 2 Richmond Stakes success at Goodwood even more before explaining how two decades of pouring over pedigrees has been made worthwhile with the emergence of his latest sprinting star.

Armstrong's distinctive red and white silks have been carried by modern day bullets like July Cup winner Mayson, Prix de l'Abbaye heroine Mabs Cross (Dutch Art) and the classy Garswood (Dutch Art) but the owner-breeder endured his share of misfortune in recent years when a number of his high-class runners had their careers cut short through injury.

The Englishman sourced Coppull's granddam Ocean Boulevard (Danehill Dancer) for just 20,000gns at the Tattersalls July Sale 20 years ago. Springwood Drive is the result of Ocean Boulevard being mated with Armstrong's own Mayson and the significantly-named Coppull can now be counted as yet another high-class sprinter that the Lancashire-based farm has produced. 

“It's six years since Mabs Cross [was retired] and, within the space of a year in 2023, we lost four of our best horses – Ainsdale (Mayson), Blackrod (Mayson), Bickerstaffe (Mayson) and Sandbeck (Ardad),” Armstrong explained. 

“That completely devastated us at the time. But we're coming back to our own level and that all makes you appreciate days like today even more. When they put it on the telly, Coppull, out of Springwood Drive, by our own Mayson, that meant more than anything to us because we bred all of those horses. He's a proper horse with a bloody great temperament and it's three generations of breeding that has allowed us to get to this milestone so it's super. It really is extra special.”

One could assume that Armstrong had been holding on to the name Coppull for a while give his Highfield Farm is based there. However, he revealed that the name for his latest Clive Cox-trained speedster was his daughter Sophie's idea.

He said, “My daughter, Sophie, who runs the farm at home, put forward the name. I don't know why we had never thought of it before but fair play to her, she came up with the name. That's another bonus to the whole thing, the fact he has a name like that.”

On future plans for Coppull, and his love affair for sprinting, Armstrong said, “As you know, Clive just goes about his business in a quiet and professional manner and I like to keep myself to myself as well. But, it's there for everybody to see how good this horse is. He had one ear pricked two furlongs out so we can only hope he will go and progress. There are no guarantees in life but he looks a very good horse. He holds an entry in the Gimcrack and maybe he could go to the Middle Park later in the year. We'll have a chat.

“You know, it was 23 years ago when a friend of mine, who doesn't know the back end of a horse from the front but studies pedigrees like mad, said to me that there are three divisions in horse racing. He told me to forget jumpers, and to look towards the sprinters, milers or stayers and I chose the sprinters. Am I glad we chose sprinters. We love the speed. It's grand, it's bloody grand.”

Thursday's Richmond Stakes began in sunshine and ended in a thunderstorm as torrential rain hit Goodwood. The opposite is true for Armstrong's endeavors as a breeder of late and he is keen to relish his moment in the sunshine. 

He concluded, “We only cover two thirds of the broodmare band at any given time but we have 16 or 18 mares on the farm. The thing about Mayson is that he won the July Cup by five lengths and never ever got the credit that he deserved. He's been a damn good sire and now he has these mares coming along. He's not got a lot of granddaughters but we've got three now and it's a great feeling when they come up with the goods like today. I love breeding, that's what it's all about for me.”

The post Armstrong Happy To Put Rotten Luck Behind Him After Coppull’s Richmond Romp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article