He definitely has some fertility issues, but last year he also had a shoulder injury I believe hence a very small book.
Noticed that 2 of the Land Force mares are going to the December Sales. Not sure how to feel about that except that it’s hardly increasing the speed element in the Royal Stud. I was expecting a few Blue Points or Harry Angels.
Oh I definitely don’t think the State pays, I was being sarcastic! I think at one point she did pay from her own funds - hence using cheap stallions with little success for many years.
I spotted another few mares not on your list, though you might have been planning on asking about them in another batch. It’s a pain that you can’t search by owner. I’ve always said they should digitise the RoM to make it searchable but apparently they don’t want to lose the advertising revenue. DAWN GLORY - colt by Recorder. Covered by Iffraaj STAR VALUE - filly by Iffraaj. No covering ENTICEMENT - no produce. Covered by Kingman
Thanks pN. I totally missed Enticement. Surprisingly Star Value went to Almanzor. Been pretty rubbish so far. Obvious that The Royal Stud is not doing well. They have to do something different and I'm afraid this list of stallions is not different.
Princess. Have you access to a 1966 Form Book? If so, could you look at who trained Persian War to his two victories in that flat season. There seems to be a dispute to the trainer being Dick Hern or Tom Masson. Must admit I believe those saying Hern are correct.
I’m afraid I don’t have access to one. Might be worth putting a shout on on Twitter, bound to be someone who would know.
Wikipedia indicates that Persian War was initially trained by Dick Hern but did not win any races whilst in training with him. Persian War's 2 flat wins came when he was trained by Tom Masson
I know. It's incorrect I believe. I remember PW running his first race for Masson at the end of October over hurdles and coming 2nd. I noticed it because I was a Hern fan and had watched him win twice as a 3yo. But I have no proof. A lot of that article is wrong. There was never an owner called Astor Studs for example. Maybe someone has a Racehorses of 1966 out there. Just found this: https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/greatest-racehorses-persian-war-2662020
Damn. I found 1961 & 1963 then there was a jump to the 70s. I must have got rid of some during my 6 moves. Maybe too damaged to keep
This any good? https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/greatest-racehorses-persian-war-2662020
Final two mares; Gravitation and Gemina...........honest. Lady Howard de Walden's final two mares. Hopefully still hers.
Thanks for looking Ron and thanks Janabelle. I'd seen that just after replying to you earlier, so I edited the post. There is some rubbish on Wikipedia. There was stuff on the Queen's racehorses page saying that she never sold a horse. Some soppy sentimentalist I've no doubt.
PNkt do you have the conditions of racing for conditional jockeys races? Are they uniform in terms of claim alllowances for riding for home yard? Or do the conditions vary race to race?
Hi Bustino, my sister is a bit of a horse racing nut and is a good few years older than me. I know that she has just about every biography ever written on racing. Her favourite horses were Arkle (top by some way), Persian War and Denman. Anyway, I posed your question to her and she does have the book THE PERSIAN WAR STORY. She assures me that Dick Hern was training him when he won his flat races. She says she needs to downsize the library as it has outgrown the room, is it a book you would like?
This is extraordinarily generous of your sister and you, Stick. As Persian War is so dear to your sister surely she shouldn't let go of this? I have to admit in 1971. when as a scruffy student I was on a field trip in Weymouth (don't ask), I read the first chapter in the local library (aka W H Smiths). I'll contact you offline Stick and will be honoured to receive her gift, if she is sure. At the moment I'm in a similar state and trying to get rid of a lot of dearly loved yet seldom read books.
I think you’ve read this wrong, he’s going to sell it to you for an exorbitant fee truly though, this is why the forum is worth reading.