Hurricane Lane's dam among Watership Down's top-class mares going to Frankel

It was not a result which featured its name but a Classic celebration was in order for the Lloyd-Webber family’s Watership Down Stud in 2021, when Hurricane Lane took both the Irish Derby and the St Leger at Doncaster.

A couple of years earlier the breeders had acquired the Frankel colt’s dam Gale Force, a Listed-winning Shirocco mare who had been among a part-dispersal by breeder Philippa Cooper.

"I actually bought Hannda, who was the dam of both Gale Force and Seal Of Approval, for my brother-in-law Tim Vestey quite a few years ago," explains Simon Marsh, the general manager of both Watership Down in Berkshire and the Lloyd-Webbers’ Kiltinan Castle Stud in Tipperary.

"The Vesteys sold her to Philippa Cooper, then she put her in the sale and we bought her, so it’s great that the Lloyd-Webbers have ended up with the family as well."

Simon Marsh: 'It’s an obvious choice that she’s going to go to Frankel again.'Credit: Edward Whitaker

She is to follow a familiar path, as Marsh adds: "We bought Gale Force to visit Too Darn Hot as she really fitted the bill, but sadly she slipped last year and it’s an obvious choice that she’s going to go to Frankel again.

"Hurricane Lane is obviously a very exciting horse for this year and we’re extremely lucky to have her, she’s beautiful. We bought her carrying an Australia two-year-old filly that’s going to John Gosden."

The best known Lloyd-Webber family of recent times has been that of Dar Re Mi, the three-time Group 1 winner and daughter of foundation mare Darara. Responsible for champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot and his two other Group-winning Dubawi sisters, she has also raised more than £5 million in sales.

This season she will be represented by promising four-year-old maiden Darlectable You, a three-year-old unraced filly Darmoiselle, and another colt likely to make a few headlines.

"Dar Re Mi has got a two-year-old colt called Growltiger going into training with John Gosden," Marsh reveals. "We couldn’t sell him because when he was four days old he got kicked by Dar Re Mi in the eye, and he lost it.

"He’s now being broken and is with Malcolm Bastard. He’s going very well and everyone is extremely excited about him and the way he’s going.

"Darlectable You is back in training with John. She looked really exciting in the spring last year but she had a small injury and we’ve given her as much time as possible.

"Dar Re Mi has got a Kingman filly yearling and she’s in foal to Lope De Vega. She’s due in the middle of April and will then go back to Dubawi. She’s in fantastic order. She’s 17 now and has actually never missed – she’s had a foal every single year and this would be her 11th foal in a row. She’s been quite amazing."

Dar Re Mi's half-sister, Evita, has had difficulties getting in foal of late but the daughter of Selkirk has produced three black-type performers including the Listed winner and Group-placed Trethias.

"She is going to visit New Bay. It's a cross that has worked very well with that family," says Marsh.

Watership Down is also breeding from Dar Re Mi’s daughters So Mi Dar, a Musidora Stakes winner, and Lah Ti Dar, second in the St Leger and winner of the Middleton Stakes.

Watership Down Stud's Frankel colt out of So Mi Dar takes a stretch last yearCredit: Watership Down Stud

Marsh outlines: "So Mi Dar’s Sea The Stars colt made 1,200,000gns last year, which was fantastic, and he was and is the most beautiful horse. He was bought by Bill Farish of Lane’s End and hopefully he’ll get her off to a really good start.

"She’s got a Frankel colt yearling that is exceptionally good-looking. He’ll go to the sales, and she’s in foal to Frankel and going back to him.

"Lah Ti Dar has got a Siyouni filly yearling, it’s her first foal and we’re very happy with her. She’s also going to Frankel - so it’s becoming a bit of a recurring theme! We've always been great supporters of him and the Frankel/Dubawi cross is working very well."

Others of note

The Lloyd-Webbers’ other Group 1 marvel is The Fugue, who claimed four of the best and was placed in many more in a career which earned her connections almost £2m.

The 13-year-old Dansili mare, who traces back to an old Oppenheimer family, has had only one runner to date.

Marsh says: "The Fugue is in foal to Wootton Bassett and has a two-year-old by Shamardal, which we didn’t sell and is going into training with John. She’ll be going to Too Darn Hot.

"We’ve also got a very nice Dubawi filly out of The Fugue who didn’t run called Counterpoint. She’s in foal to Frankel and is going to visit him again.

"Another daughter of The Fugue, Fughetta, who is by Dubawi, is in foal to Wootton Bassett and she will visit St Mark's Basilica.

"We don't normally use unproven sires, obviously with the exception of Too Darn Hot, but I would be a big believer in St Mark's Basilica. He was a top-class racehorse out of an exceptional mare and he's a half-brother to an extremely good horse. He ticks an awful lot of boxes, while he's by a very good stallion in Siyouni."

Running the rule over a few more mares, Marsh says: "Royal Intervention [the Summer Stakes and German Group 2 winner by Exceed And Excel] is a very exciting, lovely looking mare and has just had a Lope De Vega colt which at this stage looks like a good first foal.

"She visits Dark Angel this year. She was a very fast filly herself so sending her to speed seems the right thing to do.

Frankel Light: the €1.3 million Arqana sale-topper is visiting KingmanCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

"We bought Frankel Light for a lot of money at Deauville. She’s a Listed winner by Frankel out of Mambo Light – it’s a Niarchos family. We sold the first foal by Dark Angel for 180,000gns and she’s in foal to Too Darn Hot. She has a Too Darn Hot yearling and visits Kingman.

"We’ve also still got the Crystal Spray/Crystal Music family. Crystal Music’s daughter Crysdal has got a three-year-old with Ed Walker called Bling On The Music, by Sea The Stars.

"He ran once at two, got a small injury in the race and ran a bit disappointingly compared with what we thought he would do, but Ed is a big believer in the horse and he could be good news for the mare, who is in foal to Too Darn Hot."

Marsh continues: "Earring, who is by Dansili and out of Together, has a Lope De Vega filly yearling and she's in foal to Too Darn Hot. She's not due until April so we're going to have a look at the foal before deciding whether to send her back to him.

"We also own a mare called Theory Of Music in partnership with Andrew Rosen, who was a winner last year for Jessica Harrington. She's a maiden by Fastnet Rock and out of Beyond Compare and is therefore a full-sister to Turret Rocks, whose yearling by Kingman last year made 1,100,000gns. She's therefore going to visit Kingman.

"We've also got two mares in Australia, one is called Fine Scent, who we bought down there. She has got a foal by Too Darn Hot and is back in foal to him.

"We also sent one from here called Trapani, who is a Shamardal mare out of another of our mares called Claba Di San Jore. She was sent down there in foal to Night Of Thunder and has had a colt which, according to the team, is a very nice foal. She's also in foal to Too Darn Hot."

Superstar proving popular at stud

As Marsh has implied, the operation is lending strong support to the career of Too Darn Hot, who was retired to Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud.

A champion at both two and three, having been rated the best winner of the Dewhurst this century, he then won the Prix Jean Prat and Sussex Stakes at three. He looks to tick all of the boxes to be a huge success in his new career. He is about to embark upon his third covering season and is standing at a fee of £45,000.

"He has his first yearlings this year and his first foals sold exceptionally well, up to £270,000," says Marsh.

"He got a full book of mares last year, 163, and is fully booked at 160 this year, so we’ve closed it. He’s been very popular and the reports on his yearlings have been extremely good. People seem to have liked them.

"It's an exciting situation as he’s been going to Australia as well, where he has been well received covering two full books of mares. All the breeders I have spoken to in Australia are very pleased with what they have seen so far.”

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