NH Stallion Open Weekend Passes ‘Trial’ with Flying Colours

[Wandering Eyes]

If seeing top-class racehorses in the flesh is the kind of thing you're into, then the inaugural NH Stallion Open Weekend – organised by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA), in association with the British EBF – had just about everything that you could ask for, with the exception of the muscle-bound sprinters that have proliferated at Flat studs in recent years.

A total of 20 stallions, mostly of the more stamina-laden variety, paraded for onlookers across the two days, with seven different farms opening their doors.

It was a star-studded line-up which included four of the last nine winners of the St Leger in Capri, Kew Gardens, Logician and Eldar Eldarov; Cracksman, the dual winner of the Champion Stakes who also happens to be Frankel's highest-rated son; and Golden Horn, the Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero who enjoyed one of the most successful three-year-old campaigns in recent memory.

“We're very lucky to have him,” Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting said simply of Golden Horn, the horse who swept through 2015 much like the gale-force winds that battered the Gloucestershire farm on Sunday morning. “He's very popular and a fabulous flagbearer for the stud now.”

The mention of Golden Horn's popularity refers chiefly to the fact that Sweeting will again have to turn some breeders away when it comes to fine-tuning the stallion's book of mares in 2026. On Sunday, however, it was a case of the more the merrier as over 100 people flocked through the doors in the space of a couple of hours that morning, primarily to clap eyes on the champion racehorse who enjoyed a banner year as a sire in 2025, when the Champion Hurdle heroine Golden Ace and Gold Cup winner Trawlerman featured among his standout performers.

“There must have been 40-odd people for our first show of the morning and we're expecting 200-plus today,” Sweeting added. “If they all come, that would be wonderful.”

The previous afternoon, David Futter could be found proudly showing off his new recruit to Yorton Farm in Cracksman who, like Golden Horn, spent his formative years as a stallion at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud, following a distinguished racing career of his own for John Gosden and owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer.

“I'm quite overwhelmed actually by how many people have come along,” said Futter. “Make no mistake, I think he [Cracksman] was probably the main attraction, but it's funny what can happen as people see the other stallions. They were saying, 'Wow, Ito, I'd never really thought about him.' Then they see Gentlewave and they're going, 'Crikey, he's looking well for 23.'”

Cracksman, whose first crop featured the unbeaten Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact, is standing in a dual-purpose role at Yorton, with Futter confirming that he's likely to receive his fair share of Flat mares in 2026.

He continued, “After siring Ace Impact, I think Cracksman covered around 170 very good mares, Flat mares, and they've only just turned two now. And then he covered another good book of around 140 mares, similar types as well. They're only yearlings now, so he could do anything over the next three or four years.

“He'll then do the same as Golden Horn and his runners will start to appear over jumps. Already, he's sired a Grade 2 winner over hurdles, so he's well ahead of the curve. He's three years behind Golden Horn and the new boy starting off on the same route. If he has the same luck as him, it would be great.”

 

'He's got more ammunition than almost any other British sire'

Another former Gosden trainee with the National Hunt world at his feet is Logician, who was arguably as impressive a winner of the St Leger as we've seen in recent years when extending his unbeaten record to five races with his victory at Doncaster in 2019.

King Georges and Arcs were supposed to be on the agenda when the son of Frankel returned to the track the following year but, unfortunately, ill health as a four-year-old prevented him from fulfilling his enormous potential.

For Peter Hockenhull of Shade Oak Stud, the racing world's loss was his gain, with the man behind the Shropshire farm conceding that Logician almost certainly wouldn't have retired there if he'd been managed to win one of the major prizes that had seemed destined to fall his way in 2020.

“It's not often that you would go on another year with a horse that has had peritonitis and pleurisy, but they thought that much of him that they wanted to give him the opportunity,” said Hockenhull. “It was that extra year that made him affordable. Don't get me wrong, he still cost us more than any other stallion we've ever purchased, and I wouldn't have been able to do that without the shareholders – I'm eternally grateful to them.”

Logician's combined number of mares in his first three seasons at Shade Oak exceeded 400, according to Hockenhull, who is optimistic that everything is in place for the former Juddmonte runner to make a success of his second career.

“He's certainly got more ammunition than almost any other British sire,” Hockenhull added. “That's what it's all about, having the opportunity. It's not always fair. It's not only related to the sire's ability, but also the opposition in terms of what is new and standing in the area at that time. He was very fortunate to come at a time when he was virtually unopposed.

“Having the shareholders meant that he's had more support as well. That's been of benefit to him and his career, and we're really looking forward to the runners coming through. The shareholders and myself have all tried to get some early runners. I've currently got a three-year-old over in France and we're going to see what we can do there. It's vital that a stallion gets recognised by winners on the track and, if we can get that started in some way, it will bode well for him.”

 

'We have to try because what's the answer if we don't?'

With bright young stallions such as Golden Horn, Cracksman and Logician coming along, it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all is rosy in the world of British National Hunt breeding, but we all know that the underlying numbers tell a different story.

According to the Return of Mares, published by Weatherbys in October last year, Golden Horn (182), Frontiersman (93) – who is also based at Overbury – and Logician (89) were the only three out of the 20 stallions on display to cover more than 80 mares in 2025. It also revealed a 5% decrease in the British foal crop, across both the Flat and National Hunt spheres, not to mention a 25% fall in new registered broodmares, suggesting this downward trend is set to continue.

Stuart Ross of Willow Wood Farm is just one example of a stallion master faced with trying to overcome what he describes as “an uphill struggle”. Based in Cheshire, Ross is currently standing the multiple Group 1 winners Capri and Mogul on behalf of Coolmore, with the former about to embark on his third season at Willow Wood and Mogul his second.

“I think he covered 25 mares last year,” Ross said of the Grand Prix de Paris and Hong Kong Vase scorer Mogul. “Obviously, you'd like more, but it was a tough year and the number of mares covered was down for both Flat and National Hunt. It's an uphill struggle to try and promote National Hunt breeding, but we have to try because what's the answer if we don't? I'm all for absolutely anything that promotes breeding National Hunt horses in the UK.”

It's for this reason that the NH Stallion Open Weekend was introduced and why new initiatives such as this one are considered so important, attempting to raise awareness with regards the work that is done on these farms every day of the year.

“We need all of the help and all of the interest that we can get at the moment,” added Sweeting. “Hopefully, something will get sparked from this. It's just lovely to see so many people here. Most of the time we're plodding along on our own, ignoring the outside world. It's easy to forget that there are people who are enthusiastic and interested in what we're doing.

“I think the most important thing is that we've encouraged non-breeders to come and have a look. We're not expecting to sell nominations and we're not expecting to do any trade. We just want people to come and have a look, see what's going on, and keep up the enthusiasm.”

 

'It might be here in the calendar to stay now'

That enthusiasm is something that Futter could never be accused of lacking when it comes to trying to promote National Hunt breeding. Indeed, Futter was positively bouncing as he showed off Yorton's four-strong roster of stallions on Saturday, with visitors also having the opportunity to view some of the youngstock on the farm, before sitting down in front of the front of the fire with a beer or a glass of wine to watch the racing from Kempton.

“It's a great initiative from the TBA National Hunt committee to organise this,” said Futter. “Anything that we can do as an industry to promote ourselves is fantastic, throwing open our doors and getting people involved. We've had plenty of breeders here, but it's not just been breeders. We've had owners coming here and racing fans, too.

“I think the great thing about this weekend is that it's more of a social. Of course, it's great if you can book the odd mare in, but it's not about that. We've never been pushy about our stallions. People will either come and use your stallions or they won't. All we can do as stallion masters is show them off and people will make their own minds up then.

“But it's great to give everyone a day out. As we look around this room now, there's lots of drinking and socialising going on, which is great to see. You're meeting like-minded people, you're getting to see the fantastic stallions we have in this country and you get to find out a bit more about what's happening – exciting things go on at all of these stud farms. I think it's been brilliant, so hopefully this will grow legs and keep going.”

Only time will tell whether the NH Stallion Open Weekend will indeed keep going. This inaugural edition was staged as a trial, with the TBA National Hunt committee now set to go away and mull over the feedback that they've received. A decision on the future of the event will then be made at a later date.

A nervous wait lies in store, then, for those missed out on attending in 2026, but there are certainly reasons to be optimistic, with every chance that the NH Stallion Open Weekend will soon become a mainstay of the calendar, as we've seen with the Irish Stallion Trail and La Route des Etalons in France.

“Personally, I was surprised by the number of sign-ups we had, and I think the studs were as well,” said the TBA's bloodstock executive Rob Davey. “Attendances seem to have held up, despite the weather. Even this morning [Sunday] I've been getting registrations. They've been totting up and it's been a good mix of breeders, owners and racegoers, all taking an interest.

“It was obviously a trial, so we'll take it back and the National Hunt committee will decide whether it's going to be continued. If I'm honest, the way it's been received, I think it might be here in the calendar to stay now.”

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