Roger Varian moves quickly to snap up Sir Michael Stoute's former yard

Roger Varian has given notice of his ambitious plans for this season and beyond by moving quickly to secure the lease on a much sought-after second yard that once housed legend of the turf Shergar.

The former assistant to Michael Jarvis was always in the frame to take on the 68-box Beech Hurst Stables when it was vacated by Sir Michael Stoute before Christmas as it lies just across the road from his main base at Carlburg Stables, which he bought from Clive Brittain in 2016.

Beech Hurst, which is owned by Stoute’s first wife Patricia, was the ten-time champion trainer’s sole base in the early 1970s and was later run in tandem with the adjacent Freemason Lodge Stables, from where Stoute still trains today.