Midnight Legend: 'He bucked trends at almost every stage of his life'

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Midnight Legend continues to surprise and delight with his extraordinary achievements, even five years after his death at the age of 25.

The son of Night Shift bucked trends at almost every stage of his life.

Originally trained by Luca Cumani for Umm Qarn Racing, he won valuable handicaps at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood in the summer of 1994 before developing into a leading middle-distance performer.

He was later sold to Sir Stanley Clarke and sent to David Nicholson, who reinvented the horse as a successful jumper, winning the Grade 2 Top Novices' Hurdle at Aintree and the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown – all while still an entire.

Midnight Legend started covering mares in 1998 but returned to training after that season to finish placed in the Fighting Fifth, Bula, Kingwell and Aintree Hurdles, not far behind some true legends of the game – the likes of Istabraq, Dato Star, French Holly and Relkeel.

He then resumed his stallion career, first at Conkwell Grange Stud, where he covered small books of little consequence, and later with David and Kathleen Holmes of Pitchall Farm, who bought him for a pittance with the intention of covering mostly their own mares with him.

Against all odds, the horse started to gain almost a cult following as his moderately bred first crops hit the track and it became apparent that he was upgrading his stock. They contained several useful performers and the winners were coming in at excellent strike-rates.

Midnight Legend’s big breakthrough came a decade ago this year, as Holmwood Legend became his first Cheltenham Festival winner in the Byrne Group Plate and Sparky May – out of a showjumping mare, no less – scored in a Grade 2 hurdle and found only Quevega too good in the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Outside breeders began queuing up to use the once overlooked stallion, and the size and quality of his books steadily increased. Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Sizing John was one of the foals that resulted from that surge in demand for his services.

Midnight Legend’s affinity for Cheltenham was on show once again at the weekend, as he supplied the winners of both major handicaps at the November meeting – Midnight Shadow bravely holding on to land the Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday and West Cork showing similar courage in battle to take the Greatwood Hurdle on Sunday.

Midnight Legend is enjoying a heck of a run in this season’s big handicap chases in particular, having also provided Before Midnight, who led home a one-two for the sire when beating Sky Pirate to take the 888Sport at Cheltenham last month, Larry, a comfortable winner of the London Gold Cup at Ascot a week later, and Mac Tottie, successful in the Grand Sefton at Aintree this month.

Midnight Legend: continues to amaze even after his deathCredit: John Beasley

All those winners typified the toughness, tenacity and top-class ability that the sire seemed to pass on with such frequency.

The other remarkable thing about Midnight Legend’s Cheltenham November meeting double is how he scored close to the bullseye every time he was mated with the dams of each winner.

Midnight Shadow’s breeder, the late Archie Smith-Maxwell, bred only one other Midnight Legend foal out of the gelding’s dam Holy Smoke – a daughter of sharp sprinter Statoblest and a six-time winner in lowly Flat handicaps. That was Unify, a four-time winner who collected a bit of black type for finishing third in a Doncaster Listed mares’ chase.

The case of West Cork and his siblings is much more astonishing. They were bred by the Holmes’ themselves out of Calamintha, a Mtoto half-sister to Coral Cup scorer Son Of Flicka who won five races on the Flat and over hurdles.

The mare produced eight foals by Midnight Legend and each and every one of them is a winner, including the smart performers William H Bonney, Tiqris and Midnight Maestro – the last-named finishing runner-up in the Risk Of Thunder Chase at Punchestown on Sunday.

All of which makes you hope more and more that potentially the strangest plot twist in the Midnight Legend story, the Holmes’ attempt to make a stallion prospect out of the last colt they bred by their life-changing horse, will come to fruition.

Midnights Legacy has already shown he has a fair amount of class on the Flat, and given his owners a wonderful day out, by winning the handicap that immediately followed the Derby at Epsom in June; but on the evidence of his last start, when second at Kempton this month, it looks as though he will have to brush up on his jumping a little to get the Graded hurdle victory over hurdles he needs to justify being bred from.

There’s still plenty of time for the horse to write that surprising epilogue, though, as he is a May-foaled four-year-old and his sire's stock generally improve with age.

And by now we really should know to expect the unexpected from Midnight Legend and his magnificent offspring.

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Tom Peacock gets the lowdown from Gestüt Görlsdorf as the stud prepares to sell its Frankel half-sister to Sea The Moon at the Goffs November Foal Sale.

Pedigree pick

My Mate Mozzie is the new darling of the novice hurdling scene, having won the For Auction Novice Hurdle at Navan by ten lengths for Gavin Cromwell earlier this month.

His four-year-old full-brother Sea The Clouds – also by Born To Sea out of Leo’s Spirit, a Fantastic Light half-sister to stakes winners Akarem, Echo Of Light and Tocco D’Amore, as well as Coronation Stakes third Irish History – is declared for the bumper that closes the card at Fakenham on Tuesday (3.30).

The dam has actually produced three winners from as many runners over jumps, as her Dalakhani gelding Contented scored over hurdles and fences for Philip Hobbs.

Sea The Clouds is trained by Jamie Snowden for the Value Racing Club, which paid only €5,500 for him as a store at Tattersalls Ireland last year.

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a doyen among bloodstock journalists, provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday