A Portuguese trainer who is proving more than just a curiosity

So low does Portugal tend to register on the spectrum of big racing parishes like Britain and Ireland that it might be a surprise for many to learn it even has such a thing as a racehorse trainer.

Helder Pereira, who believes he is one of around ten of the kind in his entire homeland, is still managing to make an impression as a sharp prospector of the Tattersalls sales ground and on Sunday one of his purchases will take aim at Spain’s signature two-year-old race.

Guerreira, who was bought for 4,500gns at the Guineas Breeze-Up, has been the most prolific European performer from the first crop of Free Eagle, having won all her three starts at San Sebastian and Madrid. She returns to Madrid on Sunday for the €41,000 Premio Gran Criterium.

"We do have some racing under rules in Portugal but it’s very bad," says Pereira. "I don’t race any horses there, I take them across the border to Spain and France. Hopefully one day I’ll run a horse in England too."

He adds: "In normal circumstances we don’t have any chance to buy expensive horses, but we're always looking for those who we think are a little bit late or undeveloped, or don’t have a flashy pedigree. Then we try to bring them on back at the farm in Portugal.

Helder Pereira saw potential in Guerreira's breeze back in the springCredit: Laura Green

"We can’t go for the big pedigrees like Frankel or Dubawi, so we try to look for stallions that are unproven and might go well in future, like Free Eagle."

Pereira had to also trust his instinct in the case of this filly, offered by Tally-Ho Stud out of a sibling of Juddmonte’s stakes-class Critical Moment and Rerouted.

"When I saw her galloping she didn’t do a very good time but I noticed that was because she was looking around everywhere, she wasn’t concentrating on what she was doing," he explains. "I liked her though, I went and saw her in the box and thought there was a lot of room for improvement.

"I bid up to 2,500gns for her in the ring and they didn’t sell her, so then when she'd gone through the ring they came and saw me and said, 'Would you take her for 4,500gns?' I was happy with that."

In other circumstances, readers might have learned of Guerreira already, but if managing a decent display against a field of colts at the weekend she will be examined on a bigger stage.

Asked how good he thought she could be, Perreira laughs: "I don’t know. We were thinking of racing her in the fillies’ race in Paris, the Group 1 [Prix Marcel Boussac], but the entry date had closed and to put her in was €28,000 - we don’t have €28,000.

"So we have changed the plans a bit, we’re going to race her in Madrid and then we'll let her off until she’s three and race her in France.

"I hope she can trial for a Classic but I’ve got to study the races and see what the programme is. I think she can do well."

Perreira has just eight horses in his care but his methods have already cultivated several other dividends. Laughing Dove, a Tamayuz filly out of Phoenix Stakes runner-up Asfurah, was bought for just 1,500gns as a twice-raced maiden, only to win in Spain and be imported back to Britain, where she has been bred twice to Sea The Stars.

He also found the 56-rated Flanders Flame for 2,000gns and got him to win the Copa de Oro de San Sebastian, one of Spain’s very few Listed races, as well as run respectably in the Prix Dollar on Arc weekend in 2016.

A give-away as to Perreira’s earlier profession is his diminutive size; indeed, he is a ten-time Portuguese champion jockey, now in semi-retirement. As he speaks no English he is ably translated by Tattersalls’ Iberian representative Dominick Mahony.

Asked to weigh up the merits of Flanders Flame and Guerreira, he provides a very long answer which seems to involve much deliberation.

"Flanders Flame is recuperating and when he comes back next year I’ll be the only one who’s going to ride him," he says.

"They’re two very different horses. Guerreira doesn’t like losing - I put her against Flanders Flame or another older horse and she always wants to win. That’s why I think she’ll be better."

Pereira was back at this week’s horses-in-training event seeking more bargains and casting an admiring glance at Newmarket’s facilities. Perhaps one day the notion of a Portuguese trainer will seem considerably less unusual.

"My problem is it’s very difficult to find new owners, and I've very few of them, they’re all Portuguese," he says. "At the moment I’m not sure I’ll be able to move, but if I got the opportunity I’d love to come and train in Britain."

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