'It’s nice they’re in places where they’re going to get good chances' - Aimigayle once again key to Suzy Smith's success

Dipping into commercial National Hunt breeding while maintaining a training career could present a catch-22 situation. In the cynical and suspicious world of the sales, prospective buyers might wonder whether the vendor is keeping the choicest cuts back for themselves.

For West Sussex-based trainer Suzy Smith, who has quietly been producing offspring from the two best jumping mares to have passed through her hands, Aimigayle and Material World, the best way to skirt around the issue is to provide compelling evidence from the track.

Aimigayle was a homebred herself for Pete Mercer and a seven-time winner through bumpers to chases, right up to Listed level. The sister of Listed Summer Cup scorer Emmaslegend finished second in the Plate at Cheltenham and fourth in the Topham over the Grand National fences.

Smith and other owners in the stable, the Crawford-Smith family, formally took on the daughter of Midnight Legend from Mercer a couple of years after her racing retirement and her progeny have just begun to hit exciting new heights.

Court In A Storm, by Court Cave, added a maiden hurdle at Hereford to a bumper success for the Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls team earlier this month, while his younger half-brother by Poet’s Word, In A Sonnet, landed a maiden point-to-point for Tom Lacey at Maisemore Park and is now in the Willie Mullins stable, having sold to the trainer and Harold Kirk for £135,000 at the Goffs UK Aintree Sale.

"We have a few each year and we’re only a small stable so, rather than trying to syndicate or sell them in-house, we thought we may as well sell a few as three-year-olds," says Smith. "They’re good families and it’s something we’re trying to get into.

"Caught In A Storm sold for £25,000 to Kim Bailey and he was always a really nice type. He’s quite long-striding and to win around Hereford, over that trip [an extended two miles and three furlongs], that was credit to him as he’ll definitely get further, and you’ll probably see even more of him on a galloping track.

"It’s nice they’re in places where they’re going to get good chances. The interesting thing about Aimigayle is that despite being quite a big, heavy-set mare, she really wanted good or quicker ground, and it seems quite a few of them are going that way as well."

Finding the right material

In the early years the broodmares were boarded either elsewhere locally or in Ireland. Material World, the one-eyed wonder who finished an agonising second in a Pertemps Final, had a few daughters and one, Storm Patrol, produced a decent €75,000 sales return from First Candidate, a recent Irish point-to-point winner for Donnchadh Doyle.  

A combination of factors, such as Smith moving from the dwindling training centre of Lewes to premises with more space on the Angmering Park Estate in 2020, plus the complications of Covid-19 and Brexit, saw the mares slowly reincorporated back into the system at home. It has allowed the team to have more of an association with their stock and to establish a structure.

"We’re putting them out there," says Smith. "Most people would maybe be a bit scared of buying off a trainer. I think Tom Lacey was quite surprised but, when we explained what we were doing, he realised it was actually really interesting.

"We haven’t advertised it as such, but I do get as much enjoyment at seeing one of ours win on the track when we’ve sold them. Obviously we’ve got the mare or the relative, so anything they do adds value to the ones we’ve got. You want success — there’s no point selling horses who aren’t doing well, as no-one is going to buy off you. So you have to sell your best ones."

Smith, who grew up in Epsom and gained the National Stud Diploma, has been training since 2002 and won an Ascot Stakes with Missoula in 2008.

A particular knack with mares who have later gone on to breed has given her a depth of practical experience and insight from both sides of the fence.

"People often talk about why the Irish dominate, and my view is that we, as English, are now too impatient," she says. "We don’t have the stores going through the yards like they do.

"There are brilliant people like Colin Bowe training or pre-training, and it’s set up in such a way that they’re going to sort out the best from those young horses. It’s hard selling a store, and we’re now selling them earlier. 

"We used to sell them at four and they’d nearly always be ready to go on the track between four and five, but now we’re selling them at three and the reality is they’re often not ready until they’re five.

"It’s a long time. Everyone wants to breed something that’s big, that will make the money and goes to the Derby Sale or something. You’re not breeding them, realistically, for three-year-old juvenile hurdles because if you get something small, people aren’t paying for it."

A fresh idea

So, the positive and proactive Smith thinks about solutions for the grassroots. She wonders, for example, if the reintroduction of National Hunt breeze-ups would work as a showcase for less fashionable youngsters.

She has also just started the Paddock to Post syndicate, where members follow two jumpers all the way through their lives. In the package are Aimigayle’s only recent filly by Masterstroke and a Jack Hobbs colt out of one of Material World’s winning daughters, Strike The Flint, who are both two-year-olds.

Suzy Smith with the two youngsters who have joined the Paddock to Post syndicateCredit: Suzy Smith Racing Facebook

"There are 20 members who come to the yard to learn about how we bring them on, they’ve seen them grow and they get to interact with them in the field," Smith explains.

"Then when there’s a Jack Hobbs or a Masterstroke winner, or something happens to the family, they’re keeping an eye on the wider picture. We have to bring people through on that side, because otherwise there won’t be any breeders."

It is quite possible someone could branch out on their own if they get the bug, while Smith has been delighted at the sense of community the idea has nurtured.

She says: "You won’t get someone into it that wants a runner next week, but you’d be surprised how many people actually would get more enjoyment from this than the other way around."

Aimigayle, who is due next to Time Test, had a Passing Glance colt foal who sold to Clifton Farm for £10,000 at Goffs last November and Smith is tempted by a repeat cover at Batsford Stud.

"I know Passing Glance is not hugely commercial but I think he should be," she says.

Suzy Smith's Missoula (red cap) wins a blanket finish to the 2008 Ascot StakesCredit: Racing Post

With only a small team of her own, generally racing around the local tracks, Smith is optimistic this new arrangement can supplement her business, especially in the off-season. She hopes to keep taking on the odd boarding mare and look into more sales preparation and pinhooking opportunities.

"The money is in the selling," she says. "What we’re doing is really no different to what Tom Lacey does, but at a different stage. He trains and he sells pointers, the same as Stuart Crawford. We train but we like selling stores and foals. 

"I think having a couple of strands to it complements each side well and gives you more options."

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