Decorated dual-purpose winner Jason The Militant up for sale

Peter Michael has decided to put his classy dual-purpose performer Jason The Militant up for sale, with the Dubliner scaling back some of his racing interests.

The gelding is of particular importance as he is from a line that members of Michael's family have been breeding from for almost 40 years.

Jason The Militant, a son of Sans Frontieres trained by Henry de Bromhead, has provided huge highs, winning a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Naas under Rachael Blackmore in February 2020.

He was third in a blanket finish in the Morgiana Hurdle and went on to win last year’s Grade 3 Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Fairyhouse before a switch to the Flat, landing the Listed Finale Stakes at Naas before putting up a positive show from the front in the Irish St Leger.

"I don’t want to sell him, I’ve had him since day one but, financially, I unfortunately have to let him go," said Michael. "I’m aware I probably won’t have another one like him, he’s taken me to some of the biggest races over jumps and on the Flat, but it all adds up if you’re a small owner."

Michael says he has received some interest through contact on his Twitter account @Pmichaelracing and is weighing up which way to proceed.

Peter Michael (hat, second right of Jason The Militant) and his family have had special memories with their horseCredit: Caroline Norris

"If I don’t get what I think is a fair value for him, I’d look to put him in an auction, there are options but I’m hoping to be able to find a buyer privately," he said.

"He’s only eight, still relatively lightly raced, and he's a festival horse, a Saturday horse, one who is rated 105 on the Flat, 153 over hurdles, and he'd have the option of going over fences as well.

"I'd look at whether we could get a certain group of people together to keep him but it’s hard to do and I’d really rather sell him whole. A cousin of mine has been a big backer in keeping the show on the road and is in a few horses with me including Jason, so at least he'll get something back from his investments."

The recent Flat campaign proved a particular high.

"The Listed race was only his second run on the Flat, he was six or seven lengths ahead with a furlong to go and was just idling," said Michael.

"Billy Lee got off that day and said we should look at the Irish Leger. We looked at the Ebor but didn’t get the ground all summer, or much of the year, it was so dry and it did us no favours.

"I couldn’t believe we had a runner in the Irish St Leger. It was only his second run in nearly a year and with two furlongs to go we were only a length and a half off Kyprios, and I think his finishing position reads worse than the run was.

"The most obvious tactics were to track Kyprios but I said we’d try to go forward, there was an element of doubt about Kyprios on the ground that day and we thought we might get a few lengths away.

"I regret it, if we came eighth we’d have got our money back, we finished ninth, but we decided to live by the sword and rode the race to try to win it."

Quicker ground went against Jason The Militant at Tipperary on his hurdling return, with Michael believing something similar happened in a run at Leopardstown prior to his Grade 2 novice win.

"We said after Tipperary we’d give him a break as he’s been in since January, but he’s with Henry and he’s happy with him, he’s looking well," he explained.

Although it will be a wrench to see a cherished horse leave, Michael does have some of the family and is hopeful of keeping a yearling half-sister by Australia for the future, while he feels that Jason The Militant’s other sibling, the once-raced Sir Prince Edmond, has more to offer.

Tom and Helen Burns of Derrymore Farm, meanwhile, will offer a Maxios colt foal they bred out of the dam, Rock Angel, at the Goffs December National Hunt Sale.

Read more

Sale-topper Absolute Notions set for debut under rules

'He was a no-brainer' - punchy pinhook sees Kingman colt top trade at €550,000

'I have a dream: having a horse running at Cheltenham. Is he the one? Why not?' (£)

The Doctor will see you now: Arqana again falls under the spell of dynamite Dino