Rare Opportunites Among Waddesdon Draft

[Wandering Eyes]

In January of this year, British racing lost one of its few remaining traditional owner-breeders with the death of Lady Rothschild at the age of 84.

Admired and appreciated by those who came into contact with her via her breeding operation at Waddesdon Stud in Buckinghamshire, Lady Rothschild’s most notable success came through her purchase of the Musidora S. winner Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk) from the late Robert Sangster’s Swettenham Stud when carrying to Galileo (Ire). The subsequent foal was named Nathaniel (Ire) after Lady Rothschild’s son and, trained by John Gosden, his victories included the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Coral-Eclipse S. An exact contemporary of Frankel (GB)–he finished second to Frankel on debut in a Newmarket maiden and was third in their final appearance in the Champion S.–Nathaniel retired to Newsells Park Stud for a syndicate which included his breeder.

The following year, Magnificient Style foaled Nathaniel’s full-sister, Great Heavens (GB), winner of the G1 Irish Oaks, and it was the Classic winner’s son Great Bear (GB) (Dansili {GB}) who was Lady Rothschild’s final winner on his November 2018 debut.

Two of Magnificient Style’s daughters can be found among the 15 fillies and mares to be offered in the first part of the Waddesdon Stud Dispersal through the Castlebridge Consignment on Monday week on the opening day of the Tattersalls December Mares’ Sale. The first of the pair to sell (lot 1512) will be the 6-year-old Rocksavage (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who is in foal to New Bay (GB), and she will be followed by the final member of the draft (lot 1517), the unraced Willoughby (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire).

“It is very seldom that an opportunity arises like this for breeders to buy into these types of families,” says James Wigan, who was Lady Rothschild’s bloodstock advisor for the last 20 years. “You look through the sales these days and there isn’t the variety of choice that there used to be. The animals from good families have mostly been accumulated by the big names.”

Top-level success for Lady Rothschild on the track in recent years did not end with the Magnificient Style clan. In 2014, Thistle Bird (GB) (Selkirk) won the G1 Pretty Polly S. at the Curragh and the 11-year-old mare, currently in foal to Kingman (GB), is likely to provide one of the highlights of the opening session when she passes through the ring as lot 1515. Her listed-winning dam Dolma (Fr) (Marchand De Sable) has also produced the dual Australian group winner McCreery (GB), a son of Big Bad Bob (Ire) named by Lady Rothschild after the late Bob McCreery, and she features in the dispersal as lot 1505 in foal to Sea The Moon (Ger). Meanwhile another of her daughters to be sold is the 4-year-old Dabble (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) (lot 1503), in foal for the first time to Nathaniel.

It was at the December Sale 13 years ago that Lady Rothschild made two significant purchases. The G1 Sun Chariot S. winner Spinning Queen (GB) (Spinning World) was bought through Wigan’s London Thoroughbred Services for 3 million gns and 24 hours later her fellow Group 1 winner Magical Romance (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}) set a new record for a broodmare when sold in foal to Pivotal (GB) for 4.6 million gns. Both mares–now 16 and 17, respectively–feature in the catalogue though only Magical Romance (lot 1508) will travel to Tattersalls this year.

Wigan explains, “Spinning Queen has been taken out of the sale as she lost her pregnancy. Great Heavens was not in foal this year so the idea is to sell her next year. There are four mares coming back next year as well as the remaining horses in training and yearlings. The plan is for the yearlings of this year to go into training as usual. They have all been named by Lady Rothschild and they will be sold off at the appropriate moment, through the Horses-in-Training Sale and the December Sale for the fillies.”

Magical Romance’s winning Shamardal daughter Aflame (GB) will start the Dec. 2 dispersal as lot 1502, and it is a family which has been given an extra Classic boost this season via Aflame’s half-sister Love Magic (GB), who is the dam of the G1 Prix de Diane winner Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

“The fact that Nathaniel is doing well at stud was thrilling for Lady Rothschild and of course she took great pleasure in watching Enable as well,” says Wigan. “It’s very sad that the stud is breaking up but there are some very nice mares coming to the sale and it looks as if Magical Romance’s daughters are going to make good broodmares as well.”

The family which Wigan believes was perhaps closest to the breeder’s heart was that of Bay Bay (GB) (Bay Express {GB}), which includes her listed-winning granddaughter Strut (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who sells in foal to Havana Gold (Ire) as lot 1514. That mare’s daughter Mince (GB), the champion 3-year-old sprinter in Europe in 2012, comes earlier (lot 1511) with a Gleneagles (Ire) covering.

“She was particularly fond of that family even though it probably wasn’t as busy as Magnificient Style’s family,” Wigan says. “It was only really because that was the original family of hers. It wasn’t one that we bought and she had it for a very long time.”

Roger Charlton, the trainer of Thistle Bird, Strut and Mince among plenty of others for Lady Rothschild over the years said shortly after her death, “She was without doubt every trainer’s dream owner–understanding, enthusiastic, patient, and always encouraging when the situation was needed. Her Waddesdon Stud bred a lot of very decent horses, which provided her with moments of anguish, together with her share of successes and fun.”

His view is shared by Wigan, who says, “She was a wonderful person to deal with. All the staff on the stud were very fond of her, as were the people at the training stables. She divided her time between Waddesdon and Stowell, which was her old family home near Marlborough. She went backwards and forwards between the two every week and when she was at Stowell she would pop it in to Roger Charlton’s at least once a month. She knew all the staff there. She loved going to see her horses and she was probably happier going racing at her local courses of Bath or Salisbury than she was going to Ascot.”

He adds, “In many ways the dispersal is very sad but it was all her thing really. She nurtured her families very carefully and named them all, and she loved going up to the stud to see them. She really was very passionate about it.”

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