The unmistakably charismatic Stradivarius (Irish) became a horse that bucked the trend of top stayers being relegated to National Hunt studs after glorious careers on the flats when his owner and breeder Björn Nielsen decided to breed him at National Stud to be deployed in Newmarket.
He covered 220 mares in his first two seasons there and now, in just over a week at Tattersalls, foal judges and pinhookers will have their first chance to see some of his debut crop when 14 of his 80 weanlings come under the microscope Hammer will be taken at the foal sale in December.
In these first two years at stud, breeders were further enticed to apply the son of Sea The Stars (Ire) by Nielsen introducing a series of bonuses which meant the breeder would reward any member of these breedings that achieved a Group 1 in the UK winners, Ireland or France aged two or three will receive £250,000, while the breeders of all Group 2 and 3 winners will receive £100,000. There will also be a £25,000 bonus from each crop for breeders of his first ten youth winners in the UK, Ireland, France or Germany.
That will certainly have helped to focus people's attention, and there are some particularly brilliant names among the breeders of Stradivarius foals at this year's Return of the Mares, but to some extent the horse has sold. Many people who visited him at the National Stud were quickly won over by Stradivarius' swaggering gait, whose character made him one of the most popular racehorses of the last decade, with seven Group 1 victories and a further 11 Group victories to his name.
Whether he brings the same characteristics to his stock remains to be seen in the coming years, but initial reports and feedback from breeders have been pleasing to both the National Stud team and Nielsen.
“I’m not a judge of a yearling, a foal or anything like that,” Nielsen admits. “I'm just talking about what people have said when they've come up to me, and I keep hearing, 'Wow, we have this amazing foal.'” And that's from people who know the time of day. So it’s going to be really intriguing because the feedback I’ve gotten is that he’s had a lot of pretty massive, powerful foals with great strides, like him.”
National Stud's Jamie Jackson has seen the 'Stradivarius effect' first hand. As much as he has made a name for himself as a commercial stallion, the star stallion has also been a major tourist attraction. The signpost at the roundabout near the National Stud directs visitors to the “Home of Stradivari” and the number of people taking the stud tour has increased since his retirement.
“When we announced he was coming to the stud, he was still with Mr Gosden at the time, but people came here expecting to see him,” Jackson remembers.
“The coaches usually have about 20 seats and they kept getting bigger and more and more. When people come here, they make their way to see him. He is now in the first paddock on the left, demanding that people pay attention to him. I was just down there for a stallion show earlier and he made sure his presence was known.”
He continues: “But they want to see him, they know who he is, and that's huge for the stud to bring in and engage people who maybe aren't naturally too involved in breeding.”
The National Stud is handing over three of the Stradivarius foals to Tattersalls, including a half-brother to listed winner and Group 2 placed Biographer (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), who is Lot 1053 and was bred by Nielsen.
Jackson says: “When you sell at Tattersalls you can see how many people have looked at the pedigrees [online] And funnily enough, all of our foals that come from Stradivarius have made about three times more people aware of the pedigree, which is pretty intriguing.
“We sell one on Saturday and he has almost 150 more people than the others looking at his pedigree. just because it's by Stradivarius. That’s the impact he has.”
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Among the breeders who have registered mares to visit Stradivarius is Sir Alex Ferguson. His filly is a half-sister to three-time Group 2 winner Spirit Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and has already been named after Glasgow-based youth football club Harmony Row, based at Alex Ferguson Park in the renowned football manager's hometown.
Lodge Park Stud's Burns family has a colt out of fourth and listed winner of the Oaks, Vow (GB) (Motivator {GB}), while Kildaragh Stud, Ringfort Stud, Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs, Kingsclere Stud, Wretham Stud, Mount Coote Estates and Ashbrittle Stud are all on Stradivarius' patron list.
Of his 86 foaled mares this year, perhaps the most notable is Copgrove Hall Stud's La Pomme d'Amour (GB) (Peintre Celebre), herself a Group 2 winner and now dam of G1 Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics (GB). (Night of Thunder {Ire}). If the resulting foal isn't a flashy fox, there will certainly be questions asked around the house.
The Spinatrix of the Knox family (GB) (dict [GB}), the dam of the G3 Athasi Stakes winner Twilight Spinner (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}), is another to have visited him earlier this year.
Nielsen has of course supported his stallion himself, including with his Royal Ascot winner Agrotera (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who hails from a terrific family which includes Sea The Moon (Ger) and this season’s G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Sosie (Ire), both of whom are by Sea The Stars.
He says, “Unfortunately, I lost one, but I’ve got three or four in the first crop, and I have another three or four [mares] in the foal. I will send him good mares again this year. Agrotera goes back to him and I send too [her half-sister] Joan of Arc, who comes from Le Havre, as well as a few French mares from good families that I bought especially for him.”
Nielsen remains confident that Stradivarius will be able to produce good runners at the level.
He says: “The only difference between him and every so-called stayer I’ve ever seen is his foot movement. Most of the other stayers, almost all of them, are grinders, and they can never be anything other than National Hunt stallions because they do not have the ability to turn the foot. And they just turn up the heat and gallop on and on. But he also has that exterior. He looks like a miler.”
Nielsen adds: “The difference between the great and the good, whether human or horse, is the brain and the way they relax, and everything is different with the great athletes and the great horses.” It makes them much less afraid than the rest of us. And he definitely… He didn't care, right? He just walked around like he owned the place.”
By all accounts, Stradivarius is still behaving this way, as the racecourse has now been replaced by the National Stud's stallion farm and paddocks, which form his up-to-date fiefdom.
