We are so lucky to own a horse like Trueshan

Trueshan’s historic, weight-carrying performance in the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle last month was indeed, in the words of my co-owner Alan Marsh, “a victory for racing”.

Bought for just over £30,000 at the 2018 Guineas Breeze-Up sales primarily because we liked his sire Planteur, he proved backward as a two-year-old and was not leased to the Barbury Lions, of which trainer Alan King is a part, until the 2019-21 iteration of the syndicate. He reverted to his original four owners in the spring of 2021.

Throughout his career at Barbury Castle, Trueshan has been looked after by an outstanding team of stable staff. Dan Horsford, Alan’s assistant trainer, rides him out every day and is able to gauge to a pound his wellbeing at any one time. It was Dan who oversaw his appearance at Longchamp last year for the Prix du Cadran – still to my mind his outstanding career performance.