Sadness at the speed of time's arrow as one of my favourite sires is retired from covering duty

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I felt a bit of a lump in my throat when Norman Court Stud groom and secretary Janet Evans got in touch yesterday to tell me that the operation’s flagship sire Sixties Icon has officially been retired from covering duty at the age of 22.

The horse has been something of a waymarker in my career as a bloodstock journalist, so the news that he is winding down has made me contemplate the speed of time’s arrow.

Sixties Icon hailed from the debut crop of Galileo and was the sire’s first Classic-winning colt, leading home a one-two-three for him in the St Leger to boot. Lordship Stud’s homebred son of Oaks heroine Love Divine provided one of the earliest clues that Galileo was something out of the ordinary. 

It wasn’t two decades ago and yet it seems like ancient history, with Galileo going on to deliver a three-figure tally of top-level winners before his death, which itself was already four years ago now. My mind can’t quite compute how Galileo will appear way back in the fifth generation of the first foals of Shouldvebeenaring and Vandeek next year – in the same position that Nearco filled in Sixties Icon’s pedigree.

Okay, perhaps I’m being excessively maudlin by comparing one sire-line that developed in double-quick time with another that took longer to work out, but what really makes me feel gloomy about the years going by too quickly is that Sixties Icon’s retirement to Norman Court Stud was announced in the days after I joined the Racing Post bloodstock desk in 2008.

The press release arrived by fax, and the news was reported on a black and white page, in the last days before the newspaper went full colour. It was eight years into the new millennium, with the digital age in full swing, and yet it feels like another era. Lord knows how older journalists, who relied on a rolodex and typewriter, must feel.

Sixties Icon: son of Galileo landed the 2006 St Leger for Frankie DettoriCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Sixties Icon loomed large in my working life again three and a half years later, when he took the industry by storm with his first two-year-olds, with four winners from five runners by the end of April, most sent out by his great supporter Mick Channon.

I was hardly off the phone to Norman Court Stud that spring, asking what the secret to the success was, what runners by the sire we should look forward to next and whether outside breeders were getting on board.

Sadly, Sixties Icon didn’t maintain that ferocious pace, not helped by the market never quite taking him to its bosom, but I had cause to write about his progeny plenty more times over the next decade: the Argentinian-bred superstar Sixties Song and the Czech wonder Nagano Gold, both of whom contested big races at Ascot, and high-class horses like Chilworth Icon, Czabo, Epsom Icon, Nancy From Nairobi and Sixties Groove. 

A few years ago I finally got to meet Sixties Icon and the new owners of Norman Court Stud, Peter and Simon Taplin, as well as their team of staff and family friends – one and the same thing at this unusually informal operation, I found.

In an effort to keep my self-indulgent midlife crisis at bay I rang Simon Taplin yesterday to find out why Sixties, as he is known on the stud, has been retired and what he made of it. The trouble was, he was feeling a bit emotional about it all too.

“He’s just got a bit too old, he’ll be 23 next year,” he said. “He’s gone a bit infertile and he’s not enjoying it any more, he's taking his time over it, so we thought it was only right to retire him before he got hurt. We don’t want him to be stressed, or kicked or anything.

“He’s in brilliant health otherwise. He’s full of energy, and still enjoys tearing around his paddock. Don’t worry, he’s not going anywhere, he has a home on the stud for life, and will be spoiled rotten by everyone here.

"It feels surreal that he won’t be covering mares any more, really. He’s been the mascot for the stud, even long before we bought it. Throughout all the different owners here, he’s been the one constant. We still go a bit gooey whenever he has a runner, daft as it sounds.”

Czech star Nagano Gold (six) has been one of Sixties Icon's flagbearersCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Taplin admitted to feeling a sense of frustration that other breeders never got behind him in any great number, or for long periods of time.

“Yeah, it was a bit annoying actually,” he said. “He’s produced horses who have won all over Britain, from five furlongs to two miles, and they all have good temperaments. That was the main thing with him and his stock. They were very sound of mind.

“So it’s a shame that he never had many black-type mares sent to him, but that’s the way the industry is. He still brought a lot of winners, and joy, into people’s lives, though.”

Sixties Icon’s books of mares dwindled considerably in recent years, so he has very few youngsters on the ground. However, among his seven two-year-olds are two fillies who will ensure his legacy on the stud.

“Crazee Icon, a full-sister to Mick Channon’s smart horse Kinks and a half-sister to our good three-year-old Mister Winston, and Helga, who’s out of the well-bred Frankel mare Jabeen, are two of our last fillies by Sixties,” said Taplin. “They’ve got a lot of good blood behind them and they’ll eventually come home to be bred from.

“Sixties has turned out to be a brilliant broodmare sire when you consider the limited chances he had. I don’t think that’s just me that would say that either, a lot of people have commented on it. His daughters have produced the likes of Rose Of Kildare and Epson Blue Cen.”

Sixties Icon’s retirement leaves Norman Court Stud with another stallion who is also something of an overachiever and underappreciated with it. 

Rumble Inthejungle, a son of Bungle Inthejungle who won the Molecomb Stakes and ran third in the Middle Park, has covered only small numbers, and mostly home mares, but he has notched nine winners from 18 runners in his sophomore season this year. 

His roll of honour is headed by the Jack Channon-trained Getreadytorumble, a decent sprint handicapper who won a competitive heat at Doncaster on Sunday, carrying the increasingly familiar yellow silks with black sash and cap of Norman Court Stud.

“Rumble's doing really well,” said Taplin. “Every time we look at the paper he’s had another winner. He’s surprised us a bit, in that looking at the way he’s built, and what he did on the track, we expected them to hit the ground running early at two, but in fact his runners are doing much better at three.

“Getreadytorumble was already on a mark of 91 so he’s likely going to have an official rating in the mid-90s, which is exciting. Rumble has some nice stock coming through as well, including a two-year-old sister and yearling brother to Getreadytorumble. We’ll continue sending him good mares.” 

Rumble Inthejungle could even be in line to cover some of Norman Court Stud’s black-type mares in the next few seasons, he added.

Rumble Inthejungle: now the main name at Norman CourtCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

They include Juniper Berries, a daughter of Expert Eye who won the Group 3 Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes at Salisbury two years ago, and Miss Attitude, a daughter of Cityscape who took the Prix du Cercle at Deauville last month.

Not forgetting Miss Information, a daughter of Blue Point who scored in a Listed race at Baden Baden this month, cheered on by co-owner Sue Bunney and her daughter Tracey and Taplin’s daughter Sophie – described by her father as “the future of the stud”. Surprisingly, though, the four-year-old mare has been retired a fortnight later.

“I know, I know,” said Taplin with a chuckle. “The thing is, we’ve all got our habits, and we’ve probably been guilty of keeping good fillies and mares in training too long in the past, and they’ve ended up slipping back down the ranks. The team, including Sue, put it to the vote and agreed that Miss Information should go out at the top.

“She came home the other day and she was given a lovely homecoming.”

Miss Attitude stays in training next season at six, while Juniper Berries was covered for the first time this year, by Pinatubo.

It’s not inconceivable that Norman Court Stud and Bunney, this time with Evans and her husband Keith, could have another black-type horse on their hands, as their three-year-old Ulysses filly Aphrodite Spirit was sent out by Roger Teal to a comfortable success in a Lingfield novice stakes earlier this month.

“Aphrodite Spirit was bought by Keith and their son Michael as a foal to pinhook but we ended up keeping her,” said Taplin. “She’s surprised us by being so promising. She’s run only three times, but hasn’t been out of top three, and she won well last time.

“She’s a lovely, big filly so there’s every reason to hope she’ll keep improving and get a rating in the 90s. She’ll run again this year and stay in training next year.

“The quality is gradually going up, we’re getting there.”

It sounds like Sixties Icon is going to witness some exciting developments from his retirement paddock at Norman Court Stud in the coming years.

I might not have much more to write about him, but there is likely plenty more to be said about his caring custodians, who are clearly determined to make a go of the place.

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our unmissable email newsletter. Leading bloodstock journalist Martin Stevens provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday.