Should Stradivarius do a Sergeant Cecil and race on at nine?

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In Monday's email, Lewis Porteous steps in for Chris and ponders what the future may hold for Stradivarius, with insight from trainer Rod Millman. Subscribers can get more great insight, tips and racing chat every Monday to Friday.

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It was intriguing to read Bjorn Nielsen's thoughts over the weekend, especially when he suggested Stradivarius might yet race on as a nine-year-old next season.

Having split Kyprios and Trueshan in the Goodwood Cup last month, Stradivarius proved he is still a match for the best stayers in Europe, so you can hardly blame his owner-breeder for pondering another season in the top flight despite his horse's veteran status.

There will certainly be some novelty value about a nine-year-old entire running at the highest level should he stay in training in 2023 and it had The Front Runner reminiscing about another staying great of yesteryear who went on to race in his ninth year.

Stradivarius goes down by a neck to Kyprios at GoodwoodCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Admittedly, Sergeant Cecil was not an entire like Stradivarius but nevertheless he was taking on the likes of Yeats, Geordieland and Samuel at the age of nine and his rags-to-riches story still warms the heart to this day.

But how hard is it to keep a stayer's enthusiasm perked as he approaches double figures and is it the right choice to roll the dice again with a horse like Stradivarius?

No one better to ask having already been there, thought The Front Runner, than Sergeant Cecil's affable trainer Rod Millman.

"Most older horses have slipped down the handicap a little bit but because we did so well with Sergeant Cecil, he was still running in the graded races and had to be 100 per cent fit every time he ran," says the trainer from his yard in Devon.

"We had to work him hard but you've got to keep their enthusiasm up. When you're training horses, if you train them too hard you can't go back. You're almost better undercooking than overcooking because you can always do a bit more with them if needed.

"It's harder to train a stayer than it is a sprinter. A sprinter you can run fresh and heavy, a stayer you've got to keep happy and fit. I've never had a horse that could work as hard as Sergeant Cecil could. He took more work than any other."

Millman is the first to point out that it would have been easier for him training a nine-year-old gelding than it is for John and Thady Gosden, who are dealing with a full horse and one who will go to stud when he finally retires from the track.

Sergeant Cecil (yellow cap): was still racing in the top staying contests at nine as a geldingCredit: Edward Whitaker

However, if it were Millman who was the custodian of Stradivarius, he has no doubt he would keep him going into 2023 and believes the Gosdens can continue to get the best out of the star stayer.

"If he was with a trainer like me I wouldn't even think of retiring him because he'd be my star in the yard," he says. "Someone of John Gosden's ability, having the work riders he has got with people like Rab Havlin, should be able to train that horse as well as he ever has done. You can keep them going.

"Look at the pleasure Mr Nielsen gets out of that horse and he's in the top two stayers in the country at the moment. Mr Gosden is a brilliant trainer and if he thinks he's not up to it he will stop him, won't he?"

A nasty lung infection effectively put an end to Sergeant Cecil's glorious career, one that included success in the Northumberland Plate, Ebor and Cesarewitch, as well as three Group 2 wins at York and a cherished Group 1 triumph in Paris.

Rather than age, Millman says it is the injuries and ailments they pick up along the way that usually dampen enthusiasm.

Rod Millman on Stradivarius: 'If he was with a trainer like me I wouldn't even think of retiring him'Credit: Edward Whitaker

"Most horses lose their enthusiasm because they've had an injury and are having to work harder," he adds. "You've got to keep them sweet."

Although Sergeant Cecil was already a gelding when he joined Millman as a three-year-old, his trainer knows the challenges an older horse who has not been gelded can bring, having trained Master Carpenter to win as a seven-year-old entire in 2018.

"What can happen with a colt is that they get too top heavy but you've got to keep them away from the fillies because what they've never had they never miss," he explains.

"You wouldn't want to share a horsebox with a filly and you've got to be careful going to the races. You wouldn't want to get too close to any females. You also need an alert rider every day."

Millman, 65, trains a team of 35 horses near the village of Kentisbeare in the West Country and tasted Listed success at Newbury on Friday with Cuban Mistress.

Enjoying a strong season, he is only six winners away from last year's total of 35 with more than four months of the year remaining. Three of his ten two-year-olds have already achieved black type this year and, as well as his 29 winners, he has saddled 40 seconds.

He gives a lot of credit to sons James and Patrick, both talented riders, along with his wider team of work riders, but he can see why trainers with similar-sized strings are increasingly struggling to keep their businesses going at present.

"There is a terrible staffing shortage at the moment," he says. "In our job you need to be very skilled. You cannot train good horses without good riders - that's the most important thing. You need good staff and the trouble is it's very hard for a small trainer unless he's got family members to get them.

"Where I have an advantage is that I'm not competing with everyone else in the village like trainers in Lambourn and Newmarket are but staffing is a real problem."

Monday's picks

Let's head to Catterick for today's picks, with a couple of low-level handicappers looking well placed to strike.

Hilary's Boy, winner of a classified event over seven furlongs at Leicester two starts ago, missed out by the narrowest margin in handicap company back at the same course last time.

He was the only runner to make any impact from off the pace that day and, while me may be towards the foot of the handicap ladder, those two runs were enough to confirm he is moving up it, not something you can say for all the runners in division two of the 7f handicap (3.55).

He runs off the same mark again today and Lewis Edmunds, who won on Hilary's Boy two starts ago, is back in the saddle.

Last-time-out Beverley winner Stoney Lane is likely to be popular off just a 1lb higher handicap mark but that was a first win in 28 runs and I'm more inclined to trust Hilary's Boy to give his running once more.

Later on the same card, veteran King Crimson looks to have a solid opportunity to land a 13th career win on his 89th career start in the 5f handicap (4.55).

He's finished outside the first three on only one of his last five starts and was only headed in the final strides when second at Brighton last time.

He's 3lb well in today following that run and still 2lb lower in the handicap than when winning over today's course and distance last year. I also like the fact Kevin Stott takes over from an apprentice today, as if trainer John Butler means business.

Four times a winner in the month of August in the past, King Crimson might be getting on a bit at the age of ten but has plenty in his favour today.

Three things to look out for today

1. Two promising novices housed only a few miles from each other in Newmarket go all the way to North Yorkshire to battle it out in the 1m4f novice stakes at Catterick (4.25).

Firebolt, trained by Michael Bell and owned by Qatar Racing, is a daughter of Galileo out of dual Classic runner-up Lightning Thunder and looked like she would benefit from the experience when third at Ripon on her debut in May.

She faces off against Frankel filly Remembering, trained by William Haggas, who finished third to Oaks runner-up Emily Upjohn at Sandown on debut before being beaten at odds-on when second at Redcar last time.

It looks short odds that one of them will be returning to Newmarket without their maiden tag come the end of play, with bigger and better things likely to follow.

2. Anyone who supported Barest Of Margins at Uttoxeter last time will be hoping compensation awaits in the 2m1f handicap chase for novices at Bangor (5.40).

Trained by Mick Channon, Barest Of Margins would surely have gone close had he not fallen when leading at the second-last 24 days ago. He stumbled as much as anything on landing and I wouldn't hold it against him.

The same can't be said for the handicapper, who has pushed him up 4lb despite failing to complete, but Barest Of Margins should be competitive providing the fall has had no lasting impact.

Field sizes over jumps this summer have generally struggled but Bangor provides good ground today, with ten set to go to post in a tight contest for the grade.

3. Classic-winning trainer George Boughey saddles runners at Lingfield and Windsor today but has bigger fish to fry as he chases two Group prizes over at Deauville.

Missed The Cut took his winning run to three when bolting up in the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot last time and it's no great shock to see him pitched into a much higher level in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano (2.50).

Boughey has booked Ryan Moore to ride in a race won by Dubai Honour and Mishriff over the past two years, and in which Missed The Cut takes on two runners trained by Andre Fabre and two from Jean-Claude Rouget today.

Boughey and Moore also combine with the durable Oscula, already a Listed and Group 3 winner from seven domestic runs this year, in the Group 3 Prix de Lieurey (3.25).

Oscula was a winner at today's level at Deauville last year with Moore in the saddle and doesn't know how to run a bad race. She cost only 4,000gns as a yearling and victory today would take her prize-money earnings sailing past the £300,000 mark.

Roger Varian, one of Boughey's neighbours in Newmarket, runs Sound Angela in the same race, while Jessica Harrington is represented by Nectaris.

Read these next:

'Why would we stop now?' - superstar Stradivarius could stay in training in 2023

Bjorn Nielsen: 'It was truly mutual with Frankie - he wanted to jump off Strad' (£)

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content