The Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures 2023

The Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures, is an annual  gathering devoted to the racing industry and the health and wellbeing of the horses involved.  

This year, equine veterinarians, researchers, students and industry professionals from around the world attended the event, held June 8, 2023, at the historic Tattersalls Sales in Newmarket, England.  

There were insightful and informative lectures that educated the attendants but also instigated a healthy, lively debate on the health and welfare of the training and competing of horses. The underlying theme that was present during the whole event was all members of the conference had a deep passion and commitment to continuously progress and improve on managing the welfare and wellbeing of the horses in the industry, both on and off of the track.  

Two very special guest speakers, Sir Mark Prescott and Luca Cumani, wonderfully illustrated these sentiments as they described their reflections on the improvement and enhancement of horse safety.  

Horse racing may be regarded as an elite sport, and all activities involving horses have an element of risk. All stakeholders in the racing industry must continuously work to ensure that the risks are minimised in order to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities that may occur in training and on the racecourse.  There are now well-publicised concerns regarding the acceptability of exposing horses to risk in racing.  These lectures and all of the attendees embraced the values of the public will so that there can be continued acceptance of horse sports.   

Reducing the incidence of fractures in racing 

Christopher Riggs of The Hong Kong Jockey Club clearly outlined the various strategies to reduce the risk of fractures in racehorses. There are two principal strategies that may used to reduce the incidence of severe fractures in horses while racing and training:

1. Identifying extrinsic factors that increase risk and take action to minimise them. 

An example would be investigating different racing surfaces in order to determine which may provide the safest racing surface. However, studies have provided limited evidence and support for subtle extrinsic factors.

2. Identifying individuals that are at increased risk and prevent them from racing or minimise that risk until the risk has subsided.  

There are many research routes that are being undertaken to identify those horses that may be at a higher risk of fractures. There are investigations involving heritability and molecular studies that may provide evidence of genetic predisposition to fracture. However, Dr. Riggs explained that further understanding of the relationship between genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors is required before genetic screening is likely to be of practical use.  

Pre-race screening of horses by diligent clinical examination is poor at reducing the incidence of fracture. Dr. Riggs described another strategy that may assist with a clinical examination that is the use of biomarkers in blood and urine.  

Unfortunately, the precision to be of practical value has so far remained relatively unrewarding.  Wearable technology that records biometric parameters, including stride characteristics, has shown some promise in identifying horses that are at increased risk of fracture; although Dr. Riggs explained that this work requires further development.  

Finally, Dr. Riggs described both the use and current limitations of  diagnostic imaging in identifying pre-fracture pathology in order to identify a horse at imminent risk of fracture.  He conceded that further knowledge of the significance of the range of abnormalities that can be detected by imaging is incomplete.

Dr. Riggs concluded his lecture by expressing that the implementation of  diagnostic imaging to screen  “high-risk” horses identified through genetic, epidemiology, biomarkers and/or biometrics may be the best hope to reduce the incidence of racing fractures. This field can be advanced with further studies, especially of a longitudinal nature.

Professor Tim Parkin of Bristol Veterinary School discussed the need for further investment in welfare research and education. One avenue of investment that should be seriously considered is the analysis of data related to (fatal) injuries in Thoroughbred racing over the last 25 years.  

It was expressed, with the abundance of data that has been collected, that some risk factors would be relatively simple to identify. An encouraging example in the collection and use of data to develop models in predicting and potentially preventing injury has been conducted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Equine Welfare Research Foundation. This may provide an opportunity to pilot the use of risk profiling to contribute to decision-making about race entries.  In addition, the results of the pilot study combined with other sources of data may encourage race authorities to mandate the collection of veterinary and training data in order to help in risk mitigation.

Horse racing is an international sport, and there are different governing bodies that ensure racing integrity. However, the concept of social licence equestrian sports and Thoroughbred horse racing continues to gain significant public attention.  Therefore, racing governing bodies are increasingly aiming to provide societal assurances on equine welfare. 

Dr. Ramzan of Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons provided an eloquent and clear message during his lecture that race yard veterinarians and trainers are instrumental in ensuring good horse health and welfare and reducing serious injury of the horse both while training or racing, which will provide sufficient trust and legitimacy from the public and society.  This feasible goal can be reached with good awareness of members involved in the care and training of each individual horse and conveying this information and any concerns to their veterinarian.  The veterinarian can also contribute by honing their knowledge and skills and working closely with yard staff in order to make appropriate and better targeted veterinary intervention.   

In the last two decades, there has been an incredible evolution and exciting developments in diagnostic imaging in the veterinary profession. It is believed that these technologies can provide a significant contribution to helping in mitigating fracture risks to racehorses on the course and in training.  

Professor Mathieu Spriet of University of California, Davis, described how these improvements in diagnostic imaging has led to the detection of early lesions as well as allowing the monitoring of the lesions’ evolution.  

He continued by explaining the strengths and limitations of different imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).  Being one of the leaders in the use of PET in equine veterinary medicine, he presented further insight on how this particular modality provides high-resolution 3-D bone scans while being very sensitive to the identification of bone turn-over prior to the development of structural changes and allowing one to distinguish between active and inactive processes when structural changes are present.  

He concluded his impressive lecture by providing evidence with amazing PET images that the role of imaging is not merely for diagnostic purposes to characterise clinical abnormalities, but can also be used as a screening tool in certain horse populations for fracture risk assessment or for the monitoring of lesions to provide clearance for racing. 

Fractures, due to bone overloading rather than direct trauma occur commonly in Thoroughbred racehorses and are the leading cause of euthanasia on the racecourse. Despite many changes to race conditions, the number of catastrophic fractures has remained relatively static, with approximately 60 horses a year having a fatal fracture during a race in the UK.  

Against this backdrop, there have been great developments in the diagnosis and treatment of fractures in the last 40 years. Prevention of racecourse and training fractures would be ideal so the development of efficacious techniques to screen horses at risk may reduce the incidence and preserve social licensing.  

One technique discussed by Dr. Ian Wright of Newmarket Equine Referrals was to help mitigate the impact of racecourse fractures, which would be acute immobilisation of racecourse fractures, thus, reducing associated pain and anxiety while optimising clinical outcome and reducing on course fatality rates. Because of our increased understanding of fracture pathogenesis and their associated biomechanics, effective fracture immobilisation has been made possible. The majority of fractures that occur in flat racing and between obstacles in jump racing, are a result of stress or fatigue failure of the bone and not associated with trauma.  

In addition, fractures seen on the racecourse are often found in the same specific sites (i.e., metacarpal/metatarsal condyles and the proximal sesamoid bones of the fetlock) and have repeatable configurations. With this understanding and knowledge, racecourse veterinarians can optimally immobilise a fracture in a logical and pre-planned manner.  

As Dr. Wright expressed, this allows the fracture patient to have reduced pain and anxiety and enable the horse to be moved from the course comfortably so that it can be further examined. Ultimately, this allows the veterinarian and all stakeholders to make effective and judicious decisions for the sake of the horse’s welfare and wellbeing. As Dr. Wright concluded, this benefits both horses and racing.

Dr. Debbie Guest of the Royal Veterinary College discussed a different approach in mitigating the risk of fractures during training and racing by developing novel tools to reduce catastrophic fractures Thoroughbreds. Because it has been found that some horses are more inherently predisposed to fractures than other horses, Dr. Guest and her team have developed a genome-wide polygenic risk score so that one can potentially calculate an individual horse’s risk of fracturing during training or racing compared to the population as a whole.  

This strategy may contribute in identifying genetically high-risk horses so that additional monitoring of the patients can be exercised during their careers and also leading to fracture risk, which are found to be the cause of approximately half of these incidents.  

The system of using DNA testing to identify biological processes that may or may not be present ultimately leading to fracture risk may be a powerful tool in lowering the risk of catastrophic fracture and requires further research and application.

Cardiac events & sudden cardiac death in training and racing

In racehorses, sudden death that is associated with exercise on the racetrack or during training is a serious risk to jockeys and adversely affects horse welfare and the public perception of the sport. It is believed 75% of race day fatalities result from euthanasia following a catastrophic injury. The other 25% of fatalities is due to sudden deaths and cardiac arrhythmias are found to be the cause of approximately half of these incidents. The lectures focused on this area of concern by providing three interesting lectures on cardiac issues in the racehorse industry.  

Dr. Laura Nath of the University of Adelaide, explained the difficulties in identifying horses that are at risk of sudden cardiac death. It is believed that part of the solution to this difficult issue is the further development and use of wearable devices including ECG and heart rate monitors.  

With the use of these technologies, the goal would be to recognise those horses that are not progressing appropriately through their training and screen these horses for further evaluation. This course of action has been seen in human athletes that develop irregular rhythms that are known to cause sudden cardiac death with the use of computational ECG analysis, even when the ECGs appear normal on initial visual inspection.  

Knowing that ECGs and particularly P-waves are used as a non-invasive electrocardiographic marker for atrial remodelling in humans, Dr. Nath recently completed a study on the analysis variations in the P-wave seen on ECGs in athletic horses and found that increases of P-waves in racehorses are associated with structural and electrical remodelling in the heart and may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation (cardiac event).

Dr. Celia Marr of Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons continued the discussion of cardiac disease in both the training and racing of horses. Unfortunately, cardiac disease knowledge does lag compared to musculoskeletal and respiratory diseases when considering the causes of poor performance in racehorses. Due to the fact that cardiac rhythm disturbances are fairly common, occurring in around 5–10% of training sessions in healthy horses in Newmarket and over 50% of horses investigated for poor performance, Dr. Marr expressed the need for further research and investigation in this area.  

In addition, this research needs to determine if there is indeed a link between heart rhythm disturbances and repeated episodes of poor performance and sudden cardiac arrest. ECGs and associated technologies are helpful, but there are limitations such as the fact that rhythm disturbances do not always occur every time the horse is exercised.  Therefore, it would be of great value that a robust criterion is established when evaluating ECGs in racehorses. The Horserace Betting Levy Board has provided funding for investigation by initially exploring the natural history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (self-correcting form) to understand risk factors and predict outcomes for affected horses.

Continuing the theme of the lectures on irregular heart rhythms and associated sudden cardiac death (SCD) in training and racing, Professor Kamalan Jeevaratnam described his exciting research in using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify horses at increased risk of developing irregular rhythms that may cause SCD.  

AI is an exciting and rapidly expanding field of computer science that is beginning to be implemented in veterinary medicine. With funding by the Horserace Betting Levy Board and the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, Professor Jeevaratnam of the University of Surrey, has piloted three novel algorithms that help predict horses with rhythm abnormalities through the analysis of horses’ ECGs.  

It was acknowledged that further research is required to develop this technology by using data collected from multiple sources, but the initial results are promising in the development of an useful AI tool to identify horses at risk of SCD and prevent catastrophic events, thus, ensuring the welfare of the horse in racing.

Conclusion

The Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures was a thoroughly successful and enjoyable event attended by a variety of different members of the horse racing industry. Not only did the lecturers provide interesting and valuable information but also excitement for the future of racing.  It was very clear that all the lecturers and attendees were passionate and committed to the racehorse welfare and wellbeing as well as retaining the social licence for an exciting sport. 

"The Captain" - Cecil Boyd-Rochfort

Article by Jennifer Kelly

Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort

In the hours leading up to her coronation, Elizabeth sat deep in thought, quiet with contemplation. A lady-in-waiting saw the new Queen’s preoccupied countenance and asked her if all was well. 

"Oh, yes,” Her Majesty replied, “the captain has just rung up to say that Aureole went really well." 

On the precipice of great responsibility, the new monarch’s mind was not only on the serious matters of state, but on the Derby candidate she hoped would carry her colors to victory in a matter of days.

The man entrusted with Aureole’s preparation, the Irishman whose skills had inspired the confidence of a sovereign and the daughter that succeeded him, was Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort. The youngest son of a family known for its service to the Empire and a fondness for sport, Boyd-Rochfort spent his life with horses, a calling that took him from the countryside of County Westmeath, Ireland to the gallops of Newmarket and inspired the confidence of royalty from both sides of the Atlantic. 

Aureole, and jockey Harry Carr before the 1953 Epsom Derby, where he eventually finished second, four lengths behind winner Pinza.

A life in sport 

When Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort greeted the world on April 16, 1887, he was the last of Hamilton and Florence Boyd-Rochfort’s sons, joining brothers Arthur and Harold. His father had been a major in the 15th Hussars and had served as high sheriff of County Westmeath, Ireland, where the family made their home at Middleton. 

There, the Boyd-Rochfort family hunted. They rode. They farmed. After his father’s early death, his mother bred horses and raised cattle, sheep, and pigs and even had a racing stable. Cecil carried this love of horses into his education at Eton, where he was an indifferent student, focused more on pedigrees and racing than his studies.

He attended the races along with his coterie of friends who were also keen for the sport. When Cecil left Eton in 1903, his next step was uncertain. His brother Harold encouraged his younger brother to follow him into military service, but Boyd-Rochfort was unwilling to commit, still awaiting his chance to work in racing. That came in 1906, when one of his heroes came knocking with an offer too irresistible to refuse.

Lessons from the best

Like Boyd-Rochfort, Henry Seymour ‘Atty’ Persse heard the siren’s call of the racetrack and followed it to a career as both a rider and a trainer. He finished third in the 1906 Grand National and soon after switched to training at his Park Gate stables near the village of Grately. In need of an assistant, Persse offered the job to the aspiring horseman. 

The Irishman had long been a hero of Boyd-Rochfort’s, since the young man had seen Persse win the Conyngham Cup in 1897. Boyd-Rochfort’s tenure with Persse, though, was short, as the latter became the private trainer for Colonel William Hall Walker, the future Lord Wavertree, in 1908. He soon found a position with Colonel Robert Dewhurst’s Bedford Lodge in Newmarket. The young man so impressed his new boss with his knowledge of racing and breeding that Dewhurst allowed him to help with the business of running the stable and sent him with the horses running out of the Newmarket area. 

When Sir Ernest Cassel sought a new racing manager, Boyd-Rochfort was suggested for the task. Alongside trainer William Halsey, he bought yearlings, learned more about keeping horses sound, and watched preparations for tries at the English classics. In 1912, Boyd-Rochfort bought a yearling by leading sire Desmond for 3200 guineas. The colt, later named Hapsburg, proved to be worth the price: he finished second in the 1914 Derby and then won the Eclipse and Champion Stakes. He later became a good sire, a testament to the young man’s eye for bloodstock. Boyd-Rochfort would not have long to enjoy his success as World War I prompted him to join the Scots Guard. Cassel promised that his job as racing manager would be there when he returned.

A good start

After the war, where his experience at the Somme had earned him the Croix de Guerre and a promotion, he returned to England as Captain Boyd-Rochfort, a title he would go by for the rest of his life. Back in Newmarket, he found Cassel’s racing stable in a sad state. Sir Ernest himself was in poor health and the stable reflected the same; they had only one win in 1917 and then none in 1918. After William Halsey retired, the captain found a new trainer for the ailing stable, but their fortunes did not improve. 

However, the captain’s did. He connected with the American horseman and businessman Marshall Field III, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune. Field was looking for a trainer for his English stable and Boyd-Rochfort volunteered for the job provided Cassel was open to it. Sir Ernest was cutting back his racing interests and gave the captain permission to work for Field as well. 

One of the first horses the captain bought for Field was a filly named Golden Corn. At two, she won the Champagne and the Middle Park Stakes, a rare double achieved by greats like Pretty Polly, the Filly Triple Crown winner of 1904. Field and the captain had struck gold with one of the first horses he picked out for his new owner. Though Golden Corn showed her best at age two, her success promised much for the captain and his association with the American owner. 

As Golden Corn was winning, the captain‘s grand year turned sad with the passing of Sir Ernest Cassel. He left the captain a year’s wages in his will, but it was not enough for a new yard for the fledgling trainer. Both his mother and Field lent the needed funds for the purchase of Freemason Lodge in Newmarket. With fifty stalls to fill, the captain took out his trainer’s license in 1923 and got to work.

On his own

That first year, Boyd-Rochfort trained for several owners, including his brother Arthur and Field. He won nineteen races, one of those a victory with Golden Corn in the July Cup at Newmarket. In 1924, he scored his first win in the Irish Oaks, the Irish equivalent of the Oaks at Epsom, with Amethystine. 

Through his connection with Marshall Field III, Boyd-Rochfort soon had horses from more American owners, including William Woodward, a banker and chairman of the American Jockey Club, with whom the captain would win races like the Ascot Gold Cup and the St. Leger. In addition to Woodward and Field, his list of American owners counted some of the sport’s biggest names, like Joseph Widener, John Hay Whitney, cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden, and diplomat and businessman Harry Guggenheim. 

1955 Fillies Triple Crown winner Meld.

Boyd-Rochfort soon picked up another important owner, Lady Zia Wernher. The daughter of the Countess Torby, a granddaughter of Alexander Pushkin, and Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich, a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, Lady Zia invested heavily in racing after her marriage to Sir Harold Wernher. For Lady Zia, the captain won the Ascot Gold Cup with Precipitation; the Coronation Cup with Persian Gulf; and the One-Thousand Guineas, the Oaks, and the St. Leger, the Filly Triple Crown, with Meld. 

Boyd-Rochfort’s old friend Sir Humphrey de Trafford was another of his earliest owners and one that would stay with him the whole of his career. The captain trained Alcide, who won the 1958 St. Leger, and Parthia, who gave both men their only Derby victory in 1959. In addition to training for his old friend, Boyd-Rochfort made Sir Humphrey best man at his 1944 wedding to Rohays Cecil, the widow of Lieutenant Henry Cecil and mother of four sons, including Henry, who would follow in his stepfather’s footsteps. 

To attract owners like Wernher and de Trafford and that cadre of Americans spoke to the skills and expertise that the captain offered, developed through tangibles like hard work and discipline and intangibles born of a life spent with horses. 

The man behind it all  

His prodigious success had its roots in a confluence of factors. He was brought up in a family with a lifelong interest in horses and racing. He was mentored by two former riders turned trainers who shared the benefits of their time in the saddle and their knowledge acquired while developing horses. The captain was keen to learn from others, from his earliest years at school studying racing and pedigree between lessons to those years with Persse, Dewhurst, and Cassel, where he took in the lessons of healing ailments, feeding the bodies and minds of the horses in his care, and any other topic related to racing and breeding Thoroughbreds. He was a patient trainer, focused on the horse as an individual and less on the expectations that might put his charge in the wrong race at the wrong time.  

He was keen to hire the best and set them to the tasks needed to run the yard, but he also had his hands on the horses in his care. He trusted his employees to keep the rigorous schedule he set each day. He felt the legs of his charges, mandated soft water and weighed and measured specific feeding plans for each horse, and believed in long walks for his horses to warm them up for their exercise. He broke in horses at the Lodge in the early days and then later leased Heath Lodge Stud for that purpose. Trainer Sir Mark Prescott, who was a young assistant to Jack Waugh in the late 1960s, remembered that the captain’s horses “used to run in a sheepskin noseband, the lot of them and they always looked marvelous, something maybe a bit above themselves.”

At a given time, as his son Arthur remembers, he would have upwards of 65-70 horses and a stable of around twenty-five staff, from a farrier to a collection of exercise riders and jockeys, that were, as Sir Mark put it, well-mannered “like little gentlemen.” At 6’5”, the captain towered over most of his staff, and was, as his secretary Anne Scriven recalled, “a very stately Irish gentleman. Very upright, very Edwardian.” 

“He would say, ‘You boy do that,’ even to [assistant trainer] Bruce Hobbs,” she shared. After winning the Grand National on Battleship, the youngest jockey to do so, Hobbs spent a decade and a half as Boyd-Rochfort’s assistant. 

Arthur remembered his father as “being a Victorian and very upright. They were brought up in a different era then they were very strict in the yard, and everything was immaculate.”

“The captain was old school, aristocratic, he was completely confident in his superiority to most people,” Sir Mark remembered. “But he was always nice, very polite.” 

As a trainer, he was an observation horseman and a stickler for detail and demanded the same of his employees. He eschewed gossiping on the Heath as some trainers were wont to do, preferring to watch his charges intently. The captain no doubt stood at attention watching one horse in particular for owner William Woodward, a long and lanky chestnut with a wide white blaze, a champion in America who was trusted to this singular conditioner for a tall task: winning the Ascot Gold Cup. 

A challenge for the captain

Americans know Omaha as the third name on the short list of horses to have won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, the American Triple Crown. Owner William Woodward’s aspirations were not limited to winning classic races in his own country, but also in England, the place where he cultivated his grand ambitions as a young man working for the American Ambassador Joseph Choate in the earliest years of the 20th century. One of the classics he aspired to was the 2½-mile Ascot Gold Cup. 

Omaha with jockey pat beasley and groom bart sweeney

Omaha’s three-year-old season had been cut short by injury, and, with his sire Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox already representing Woodward’s Belair at stud, the American did not need to retire his second Triple Crown winner. Instead, he took the risk of sending Omaha via the Aquitania to England, his ultimate destination Freemason Lodge. The Triple Crown winner was not the first Woodward had sent to the captain, but the task ahead of the trusted horseman could be considered somewhat of a titanic one: take a horse primarily trained on dirt, who had only raced counterclockwise and never more than 1½ miles and prepare him to run a mile longer clockwise on grass. 

The captain would send the American horse on longer gallops, from a mile and a quarter to two miles at least once a week, building the colt’s stamina and giving him the chance to stretch out the long stride that had made him such a success at distances over a mile. Couple those regular gallops under Pat Beasley, the stable’s lead jockey, with the captain’s regimen of walking, water, and feed, and Omaha was quickly fit enough to easily win his first start in England, the 1½-mile Victor Wild Stakes at Kempton Park. Three weeks later, back at Kempton Park,  he took the two-mile Queen’s Plate with ease. Clearly, the captain’s plan to acclimate and prepare the American horse for the Ascot Gold Cup was working.

In the Gold Cup itself, nearly three weeks later, the 2½ miles came down to the last two furlongs, as Omaha and the filly Quashed, herself an accomplished stayer, battled down the stretch. Anytime one pulled ahead, the other fought back, neither giving way until the very end. In what would be a photo finish today, the ultimate decision came down to judge Malcolm Hancock. The difference between the winning Quashed and the captain’s charge Omaha was a simple nose. That Omaha was able to come so far in such a short amount of time was testament to not only the well-bred champion but also Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, a horseman whose true brilliance came through in how he was able to sense and cultivate a horse’s potential. 

It was this instinct about the individual horse, the care he put into their development, and the discipline he imbued into his staff and himself that brought him an opportunity afforded to few: a chance to train for the Royal Stable. First for King George VI and then for Queen Elizabeth II, he brought his beloved monarchs great victories, ones befitting a man who had made horses his life's work.

A royal opportunity  

When Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort took over the Royal Stable, he had already been leading trainer in 1937 and won his share of both English and Irish stakes. As he went to work for the Royal Family, whom he greatly admired according to son Arthur, he was able to continue working with Lady Zia and Sir Humphrey as well as his American owners. With the Royal Stable, though, came some of his signature wins.

For the King, he won the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot with Avila, the One Thousand Guineas and the Dewhurst with Hypericum, and the Cesarewitch with Above Board. Days after Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, the captain started Aureole in the Derby, seeking a Classic victory for the lifelong horsewoman. Aureole mounted a bid in the stretch but could not catch Pinza. Aureole would go on to win the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot the following year, giving the Queen her first victory on the Ascot Heath. 

Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort and Queen Elizabeth II in the paddock at Kempton Park as she watched her colt Agreement being unsaddled after his victory in the Coventry Three Year Old Stakes.

Though the Derby would elude them, the captain would bring the Queen a Classic win in the Two-Thousand Guineas with Pall Mall. In all, he conditioned fifty-seven winners for the King, one hundred and thirty-six for Queen Elizabeth II, and three for the Queen Mother. As he approached his eighty-first year and the end of his time as a conditioner, the Queen made him a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order for his service to the Royal Stable.

As he prepared his exit, the captain named his stepson Henry Cecil as his successor at Freemason Lodge. Cecil had been his assistant for four years, his education and experience preparing him to take the helm from his stepfather. Though his temperament differed from that of his stepfather and their relationship could be fragile at times, Henry picked up where the captain left off and crafted a Hall of Fame career of his own. 

A legacy of excellence  

Forty years after his death and a century after he took out his trainer’s license, Sir Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort lives on in racing’s record books, as the conditioner of champions and the mentor of a man named Cecil, the one who gave us Frankel in all of his glory. The friends of his time are all gone yet his regal bearing and enduring reputation for discipline and detail live on in the stories of the horses he conditioned.

His patience for developing horses yielded a trio of victories in the Ascot Gold Cup and a Triple Crown with a girl named Meld. It was his brilliance that capitalized on the untapped potential of Omaha, already an elite name in America, and brought him to the precipice of victory at Ascot. 

The captain took his boyhood love of horses and turned it into his calling as a conditioner of champions for royalty on both sides of the Atlantic. Though his name may ring unfamiliar to 21st century ears, Cecil Boyd-Rochfort made his mark on the century that preceded it, etching his name into the record books many times over for King, Queen, country, and beyond. 

The captain (left) and trainers Ben and Jimmy Jones with American Triple Crown winner Citation at Hialeah, c1949.

TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter – SIR MARK PRESCOTT BT.

Article by Giles Anderson

Heath House Stables in Newmarket has been the only yard our deserved TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter, Sir Mark Prescott, has trained from during his fifty-three years with a training licence.

Britain’s longest serving trainer has produced many horses at the highest level. Consider the fact that he operates with a self imposed limit of fifty horses under his care at any given time and his record seems even more impressive.

Over time, Prescott has worked closely with many leading owner breeders - none more so than Kirsten Rausing. Over the years, they have produced the likes of Albanova and Alborada to score at the highest level.

In 2019 a filly named Alpinista, made her racecourse debut on July 18th at Epsom. The debut was a winning one. Prescott wouldn’t necessarily be a trainer you would associate with winning debutantes, so many took note of this performance. The Racing Post reported that Alpinista; “dwelt, in touch in 5th, slightly green when asked for effort over 2f out, soon closed to lead over 1f out, pushed clear, unchallenged after”.

It would be fair to say that the five horses who finished behind her, haven’t exactly set the form book alight since. The same can’t be said for Alpinista.

Her subsequent start at Goodwood in August (2019) proved to be her only start where she finished out of the first four - when finishing 6th in the Gp.3 Prestige Stakes.

Winning ways resumed the following August (2020) when scoring in the Listed Upavon Fillies Stakes at Salisbury.

In 2021 Alpinista simply dominated the German Gp.1 races, with victories in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the 59th running of the Preis von Europa and the Grosser Preis von Bayern.

Prescott, has always been a devotee of the European Pattern, looking further afield to pick up (in his own words) “cheap black type” for the fillies in his care. But little did he know when Alpinista beat Torquator Tasso and Walton Street in the Grosser Preis von Berlin what impact this race would have and cement Alpanista as the filly of her generation.

Walton Street ran two places better on his next start in Toronto when a fascicle 5 3/4 length winner of the Gr.1 Pattison Canadian International.

Torquator Tasso went onto frank the form in a duo of Gp.1 races -  the prestigious Grosser Preis von Baden before a ‘shock’ win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The only person who probably wasn’t suffering from shock on the first Sunday in October 2021 was Sir Mark Prescott - he now knew he now had a serious filly in his care.

When the actual plan was hatched to aim Alpanista for the 2022 running of the Arc de Triomphe one will never know. But one can safely bet that by the time the 2022 Pattern Book dropped through the letterbox at Heath House Stables, Prescott had already worked out her plan for 2022.

Fast forward to the build up for the 2022 Arc and anyone who has enjoyed the shere entertainment of Prescott’s company will have enjoyed the build up for the race. With Prescott providing a level of light relief, regaling stories of previous voyages to France and the disappointment of defeat that most such ventures result in.

But in Alpanista’s victory in the 2022 Arc de Triomphe we got to celebrate the victory of two of the greatest proponents of the European Pattern in Sir Mark and Kirsten Rausing. 

Alpanista was retired in November to embark on her next career as a broodmare at Lanwades Stud. 

Her final race record reads as; 15 starts, 10 victories - with 6 in Gp.1 company - coming in three different countries. Quite a record.

Thoroughbred Sales Assessment; Update from the Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures, 2019

By Tom O’Keeffe

The Beaufort Cottage Educational Trust Gerald Leigh Memorial Lectures took place this year at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket and a host of international and local veterinary specialists and industry leaders were present to discuss the veterinary aspects of the sales selection of the thoroughbred. 

Gerald Leigh was a prominent breeder and racehorse owner until his death in 2002; and his friend and vet Nick Wingfield Digby opened the seminar and introduced the speakers. The Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust has established this annual lecture series to provide a platform for veterinary topics relating to the thoroughbred to be discussed amongst vets and prominent members of the industry. 

Sir Mark Prescott described his take on the sales process and some of the changes he has noted since his early involvement in the industry. He recalled how the first Horses in Training sale he attended had only 186 horses. In those early days, his role was to sneak around the sales ground stables late at night on the lookout for crib biters. Back then, there was no option to return horses after sale, and as a result, trainers preferred to buy horses from studs they were familiar with—a policy Sir Mark still follows to this day. 

Sir Mark went on to explain that he believes strongly that the manner in which an animal is reared has a strong bearing on their ability to perform at a later date. Sir Mark also mentioned that horses can cope with many conformational faults nowadays that would have been deemed unacceptable in his early years. He attributed this to improvements in ground conditions, such as watering and all-weather surfaces. Mike Shepherd, MRCVS, of Rossdales Equine Practice in Newmarket had been tasked with describing and discussing the sales examination from a veterinary viewpoint and in particular attempting to define what vets are trying to achieve in this process.

Shepherd’s key message was that the physical exam is the cornerstone of any veterinary evaluation. A vet examining a horse on the sales ground is not a guarantee that the horse will never have an issue—there is no crystal ball. Owners and trainers should be aware there are several limitations of the vetting process, and it is helpful to think in terms of a “pre-bid inspection” rather than a “pre-purchase examination”. The horse is away from its home environment, and this puts a lot of stress on the animal. In most cases, pre-purchase exercise is not possible, so conditions that are only apparent when the horse is exercising and in training may go undetected. 

Time is a major challenge, with both vendors and prospective purchasers pushing for everything to be done as quickly as possible. A busy sales vet may have a long list of horses to examine, and information on each must be transferred to their client coherently and clearly—all before the horse is presented for sale. It can be challenging  to acquire a detailed veterinary history. Previous surgeries, medication and vices displayed by the animal ought to be reported, but in many cases the person with the horse is not in a position to accurately answer questions on longer-term history. 

Everyone involved—the vendor, the prospective purchaser, and the auction house—wants the process to go ahead. The horse to be bought/sold and the vet can be seen as a stumbling block. Prospective purchasers may want the horse to be examined clinically, its laryngeal function examined by endoscope, radiographs of the horse’s limbs either reviewed or taken, ultrasound examinations of their soft tissue structures and heart performed. The role of the vet is to help the purchaser evaluate all this information and make an evidence-based decision on whether to purchase the horse.

Examining vets can face conflicts of interest when examining horses that are under the ownership or care of one of their clients. Shepherd explained how Rossdales, and some other practices involved in sales work, have a protocol that an examining vet will not perform a vetting on a horse in the care of one of their own clients, and will disclose to the prospective purchaser if the vendor is a client of the practice. It is crucial to avoid working for both buyer and seller as a conflict of interest becomes unavoidable.

It is also essential that the vet understands exactly what the horse is expected to do following the sale.  Thoroughbred horses in flat racing have short timescale targets and, as a result, certain parts of the examination carry more weight than others. For example, the knees and fetlock joints are commonly implicated in lameness in flat racehorses; thus particular attention must be paid to these joints when examining yearlings. Soft tissue injuries are impactful in all young thoroughbreds, but there is a particular emphasis on tendon integrity in the National Hunt racehorse because career-threatening tendon injuries are particularly prevalent in these horses. When evaluating potential broodmares, good feet are very relevant, and overall conformation is particularly important if the aim is to breed to sell. Vetting horses for clients aiming to pin hook their purchases places different requirements on the examining vet. These horses need to be able to cope with the preparation required for another sale, and they must also stand up to the scrutiny of vets at a later sale. The horse’s walk and conformation rank high in the foal/ yearling stage but may be judged to be less significant if the horse breezes in a fast time at a breeze up sale.

It is also critical that purchasers recognise that many of the common veterinary issues encountered in training are not detectable at the Sales stage. …

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