'They have particular traits' - Suzi Prichard-Jones on efforts to preserve the Byerley Turk line

On the surface, the last race of Friday's card at Royal Ascot did not hold any great significance as bigger prizes had already been won by both jockey Hollie Doyle and trainer Archie Watson. Look a little deeper and the neck victory for Rhythm N Hooves in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes was highlighting not only his sire Pearl Secret's capabilities but also shining a much-needed light on the Byerley Turk line. 

One of three horses that all modern-day thoroughbreds can trace their lineage to, there are regrettably now just a handful of sires left in Europe to have descended from the stallion with a mysterious but eventful past. Believed to have been born in Serbia and even ridden in the Battle of the Boyne, he later covered mares at his owner Captain Robert Byerley's home at Middridge Grange and then Goldsborough Hall in the 1690s. 

Fast forward more than 300 years and the sire line has all but disappeared throughout the racing world, with the dominance of the Darley Arabian taking precedence over the Byerley Turk, as well as the Godolphin Arabian. It was maintained onwards through Herod and later by Djebel, the French star of the early 1940s and then through the likes of My Babu and Clairon down to Indian Ridge. 

One of his final young flagbearers is Pearl Secret, the Group-winning sprinter and grandson of Indian Ridge, with Rhythm N Hooves' success in the three-year-old sprint handicap at Ascot providing another welcome boost to add to his other winners this year, which include Doddie's Impact in the Brocklesby Stakes.

The gelding's royal win was considered a big one by Suzi Prichard-Jones, author of Byerley: The Thoroughbred's Ticking Time Bomb and founder of the Byerley Turk and Godolphin Arabian Conservation Project, herself a breeder, owner and passionate defender of the dwindling bloodline. 

Rhythm N Hooves: son of Pearl Secret struck in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes at Royal AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker

"It was unbelievable because it gives him [Pearl Secret] more weight, which is very difficult to get in this game, and hopefully he'll be a little better supported than he has been," she says. "I think he's got four yearlings on the ground this year so he needs some help."

Based at Norton Grove Stud in North Yorkshire at a fee of £2,000, the Temple Stakes winner Pearl Secret has been a steady source of winners going through his first four crops, but this year is certainly turning into a particularly good one, with the Cool Silk Partnership's homebred Rhythm N Hooves winning three of his five starts and two-year-old colt Doddie's Impact taking the Flat season curtain-raiser at Doncaster in the Cross Channel Racing Silks. Not seen since that day, he is now with Clive Cox. 

Prichard-Jones is herself responsible for another Pearl Secret winner of 2023 in her homebred, the not accidently named Goldsborough, and is hoping the successes will aid her cause and widen knowledge.

"It's all about making people aware of it and asking whether there are going to be consequences of losing that genetic diversity," she says. "We don't know the answers to that yet, but it's something people might start discussing. Hopefully, in the meanwhile, the horses can do the talking."

Prichard-Jones, who has spent a lifetime involved in the industry in both America and Ireland, is a bona fide authority on the Byerley Turk and is keen to highlight the particular characteristics shown by thoroughbreds from that line, not least a sizeable slice of bravery.

She says: "They have particular traits that are necessary for the make-up of the thoroughbred. I don't know how one would go about trying to prove it genetically, but the Byerley line horses are very intelligent and courageous, and it's a line that's very prominent in National Hunt. I suspect it's probably for that reason as they do need to be courageous. 

"They are a bit spirited, you can't tell them what to do, so they require a bit of respect and patience - that's probably something that gets in the way and they end up being gelded."

She adds: "The Godolphin line horses tend to be tough and hard-headed - and very determined."

But while the likes of Rhythm N Hooves and Doddie's Impact are indeed doing some talking on the track, what else can be done to spread the word about the stallions who descend from the sire line? 

"I'm trying to create a platform and take the stallions from England, Ireland and France and put them on their own Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages, so people can go there and say, 'Oh, these are the stallions from that line'," she explains.

"There are only six Flat stallions and two National Hunt stallions in those countries. The other ones around the world have not been high-class racehorses, so the ones in England, Ireland and France are probably our best chance in ensuring the line continues." 

Goldsborough: Suzi Prichard-Jones's homebred was a winner at Goodwood in MayCredit: john grossick

As for her home-baked contributor to the cause, three-year-old Goldsborough was a ready winner of his second start at Goodwood for Andrew Balding in May, with David Probert sporting the owner-breeder's blue and yellow silks.

Described by Prichard-Jones as 'a baby', the colt out of the placed Darley-bred Teofilo mare Emily Carr should be another who can continue to keep his sire's name in the spotlight.

"Goldsborough is doing very well but is getting a bit ground dependent," she continues. "He's such a baby and in his three starts he's come out of the gate going, 'I can go fast now!' He needs some seasoning I think, but hopefully he can improve as he gets older."

Prichard-Jones is certainly doing her bit to bolster the sire line, with a handful of mares in production alongside youngsters by Pearl Secret as well as the veteran Irish 2,000 Guineas victor Indian Haven, who Worcestershire's Chapel Stud market as the "only Classic-winning son at stud from the Byerley Turk line". Dream Ahead, who descends from the Godolphin Arabian, has been supported too.

Prichard-Jones says: "I've got five mares and I lease and stand Indian Haven at Chapel Stud in Worcestershire. I've got five yearlings by him and three Pearl Secret two-year-olds, as well as three Indian Haven foals and one Dream Ahead foal."

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