'We want to look outside the box' - Gary Sanderson searching for sprint stallion

The search for a new sprint stallion for Lilling Hall Stud is becoming a lengthy one but stud owner Gary Sanderson is retaining his faith in being able to find the right candidate to stand alongside the Shadwell-bred Wusool.

Based close to Castle Howard, between York and Malton, Sanderson and his wife Lynne have been renovating the stud farm since 2013 and are looking to expand the operation by adding a new option for breeders in the north.

Sanderson, who has trained racehorses from the premises and stood Royal Ascot winner Tha'ir a few years ago, has begun to test the water around the industry again after a tricky couple of years.

He said: "We're getting there, with 20 acres to the farm, although two years ago we had Covid and there was no racing on, so we thought what was the point of this. But now we want to get a stallion for next year and get him exposure."

An upside for the prospective stallion is the fact he will be based near trainers with a penchant for sprinters, such as Richard Fahey, John Quinn and Paul Midgley.

"There are lots of stallions out there but it's about affordability," said Sanderson. "Breeding is obviously important, with Wusool you wouldn't get much better bred than him, but we want to look outside the box with all these sons of Kodiac and Invincible Spirits out there.

"I've been speaking to James O'Donnell of Shadwell and Sam Bullard at Darley, and you never know where you could get one from."

Sanderson reported Wusool to have settled into his new career well, with the son of Speightstown having transferred from Francois Rohaut's stables in Pau on the eve of the breeding season in 2020.

The now seven-year-old won the Group 3 Prix Paul de Moussac in the colours of the late Hamdan Al Maktoum, plus a further three races, and finished fourth behind Intellogent in the Prix Jean Prat after his Group-race success in 2018.

"He's really very good to deal with and has a lovely temperament," said his proud owner.

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