Oxted: 'I just wish he was around this season because he would set the standard'

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: Oxted

Having the chance of a crack at Group 1 glory is the dream for every trainer but to break through the barrier and achieve that is a difficult challenge. The road can be long and winding and there might be bad days along the way but trainer Roger Teal found in Oxted a horse who could take everything in his stride and has twice reached that pinnacle.

"The dream is still alive," says the Lambourn trainer, who believes Oxted’s career can still feature plenty more success although the six-year-old has been on the sidelines for a year with a tendon injury he picked up following his July Cup third at Newmarket last year.

The son of Mayson was primed and ready for his debut at Doncaster in November 2018 but Teal wasn’t sure what he was going to get until jockey Liam Keniry filled the trainer with excitement as he returned on Oxted, who had run well to finish fifth behind Dazzling Dan.

"It was the very last day of the season and I'd told Liam that Oxted was a nice horse, but very green and backward," Teal says.

"After the race Liam came over to me and was full of praise and said 'I think you’ve a 90-rated horse here', which was something I loved hearing.

"We let him down in the winter and brought him back to run at Salisbury over 7f. David Probert rode and he hosed up. Then we went to Newbury and came second to Khadeem in the Listed Carnarvon Stakes."

Oxted: finished second to Khaadem in the Carnarvon StakesCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Co-owned by Steve Piper, Tony Hirschfeld, John Collins and David Fish, the first Group assignment for the Lambourn-trained Oxted came with a return to his local track Newbury for a clash with older horses for the first time in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes.

It was his hardest test to date and he finished sixth to Germany's Waldpfad before heading back to Doncaster where he came last of four to Tabdeed in a 6f conditions race.

Things started to improve over the rest of his three-year-old campaign and that is when Teal started believing something special was going to happen.

"We had a bit of a setback [at Newbury and Doncaster], as he went a little bit weak on us because I think he started to grow again.

"We went to Newmarket for a handicap and after a bad start he did well. We finished strong in second to Dazzling Dan again and that’s when I decided to aim him for the Portland at Doncaster," Teal says.

The Newmarket run was the first occasion on which Cieren Fallon partnered Oxted.

"I told Cieren he would keep the ride for the Portland but a few days before the race he went from claiming 5lb to claiming 3lb and I didn’t know what to do. We stuck with him and Oxted went on to win the Portland, the first three-year-old to do so in almost 20 years,” Teal says.

"After that, I thought we had a July Cup horse because it was a good performance and he was quite high in the weights that day."

The following spring Oxted again delighted his connections by claiming his first Group victory in the Group 3 Abernant Stakes at Newmarket. What followed was remarkable.

Teal had his eyes firmly set on a first Group 1 in the July Cup, using the Abernant for more Newmarket experience followed by a run at Royal Ascot. However, a difficult call had to be made before Ascot, where Oxted was entered in the Platinum Jubilee and King's Stand, and Teal admits it was his son and assistant Harry who played a big part in the decision.

Harry Teal celebrates with Cieren Fallon after the King's StandCredit: Harry Trump

"Harry knows Oxted inside out and said just before Ascot that he was not 100 per cent.

"It was a big call because with a stable like ours you want these days out, but I spoke to the owners and said Harry wasn’t happy.

"After missing Ascot he came right and after his last workout before the July Cup Harry said 'he wins, Dad.' I said to him 'come on, it’s the July Cup, lets just stay calm'.

"Even when we were saddling up, Harry kept telling me he would win and it was unbelievable. It was great to see the horse backing up my confidence in him being a Group 1 horse," Teal says.

The length-and-a-quarter win over Sceptical and the favourite Golden Horde was a landmark moment for the trainer, who was tasting Group 1 success for the first time and it gave Teal the appetite for more.

However, things didn’t go quite to plan in the Group 1 Champions Sprint at Ascot in October 2020 when Oxted led a furlong out before finishing fifth to Glen Shiel, beaten less than a length.

"I thought we'd won. He ran an absolute scorcher but that heavy ground found him out and he got tired in the last 50 yards," Teal says.

"There were times when things didn’t go to plan and with sprinters you need to have a bit of luck sometimes."

After a disappointing trip to Saudi Arabia in February 2021, Oxted attempted a repeat in the Abernant but he was beaten three-quarters of a length into second by Summerghand.

"Ryan Moore rode because Cieren was unavailable and he got into an argy-bargy match at half way. Fair play to Ryan, he came back and was very apologetic and hard on himself.

"We then went for the Duke of York and Cieren wasn’t fit so Ryan took the ride again. Starman and Nahaarr were drawn the other side to us and Ryan came in and was again quite critical of himself. He said 'I should’ve just let him run' and he was disappointed," Teal adds.

Everything fell into place at Royal Ascot though as Oxted landed a second Group 1 in the King's Stand, confirming he was one of the best in the sprinting division.

Roger Teal, Harry Teal and Cieren Fallon after July Cup success in 2020Credit: Edward Whitaker

"It’s so hard to get a Group 1 horse. Even when you have one it’s very hard to land a Group 1 race.

"To do it twice shows it wasn’t a fluke when he won the July Cup. To do it in the King's Stand was magical. He beat horses like Battaash and King's Lynn; he didn’t beat a bad field," the trainer says.

An attempt to repeat his July Cup heroics fell short three weeks later as Oxted finished a length and a quarter back in third behind Starman but Teal knew from the moment the race was run that something didn’t seem right.

"We knew he had a chip in his knee but we always monitored it and it never seemed a problem. However, that day when he hung badly in the July Cup I knew something wasn’t right.

"We did an MRI scan and the chip had moved in between his joint and it was causing him some discomfort, so we had it removed.

"Everything was going smoothly after it was taken out and he was moving better than he ever had in his life. He was on course to return but stumbled one morning on the gallops. A few days later we realised he’d done a tendon."

Oxted has continued to undergo rehabilitation with the hope of one day returning to Teal’s Windsor House yard.

"We're giving him a rest, as you have to when it’s tendons. He’s with Fiona Marner at Windmill Stud and on a water treadmill twice a day. They’re keeping him active without too much pressure.

"We'll keep scanning him so we can hopefully get him back in one piece next year."

Roger Teal: 'He has been missed this year, but sometimes these things happen for a reason'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Teal is aware that even if Oxted does make a return next season at the age of seven the work to try to get him up to speed to compete in big races will be challenging.

"The hardest thing will be getting him back and keeping him sound. If we can do that then we can dream again. He enjoys what he does and sprinters can be hard on themselves.

"The good horses always give you more and they’re the ones who are prone to injuries. A trainer's hardest job is keeping a horse fit, let alone trying to get them to win.

"He's been missed this year but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. I just wish he was around because he would set the standard with Starman retiring."

Despite not knowing what the future holds, Teal is not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

"Sprinters go on to a good old age, so he’s not ancient. He’s still in his prime. He’s a gelding and he doesn’t have a stud career to go to.

"If he never won again, you’d never be able to take away what he's done. We want him back on the track, enjoying what he does.

"Hopefully, we can get him back and have some more good days."

Read other Fans' Favourites . . .

Sire De Grugy: 'The whole racing world acknowledged us - it was special'

Trueshan: 'He can quicken after a long way and just power away, it’s relentless'

Denman: 'He could pick you up and chuck you out the box or take your arm off'

Desert Orchid: 'People thought it was an act of lunacy to run over three miles'

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.