Sir Michael Stoute © Photo Healy Racing
Sir Michael Stoute and leading owners Juddmonte have joined forces on many big occasions down the years and in Jonquil they could have a colt to bring the curtain down on their long association in the best possible way.
The Freemason Lodge handler has announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, but before the nights draw in and the leaves completely fall from the trees, Juddmonte’s homebred son of Lope De Vega could announce himself as a star of the future.
An impressive winner at Sandown on debut when overcoming a compromising position to win with authority at the line, Jonquil now takes an immediate leap into Listed company at Doncaster, where he will contest the Betfred Flying Scotsman Stakes on Friday.
It is a race Stoute and Juddmonte combined to win with Sangarius in 2018, while it may come as no surprise that the Barbadian is the Town Moor contest’s most successful trainer – with five victories in the seven-furlong event overall.
Now Jonquil is bidding to dispatch the opposition to the boundary and make it six for his cricket-loving handler, having shown encouraging signs since his Esher bow.
“It’s a little bit of a quick turnaround but he came out of Sandown in very good shape, he was very fresh the next morning and the team at Sir Michael’s have been pleased with him in his work back,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him again and it’s the next step up the ladder, but we were all impressed with his debut win and hopefully he can build on that.
“He looked fairly streetwise because he had every chance to get beat but he seemed to know what he was doing and I think guts and determination got him through.”
Juddmonte’s association with Freemason Lodge has lasted almost 25 years and since Comfy landed the Acomb Stakes in 2001, Stoute has saddled over 50 stakes winners in the famous pink, green and white silks of the Abdullah family’s racing operation.
Their finest hour came with the Derby and Arc double of Workforce in 2010, with Ryan Moore – the man who will steer Jonquil at Doncaster on Friday – in the saddle at both Epsom and Longchamp.
“Sir Michael has probably been one of the best British trainers of the last century, he’s right up there with the best of them and he’s trained some great horses for us and over 50 stakes winners,” continued Mahon.
“It’s great to see him going out on his terms and going out on a high. Hopefully Jonquil can send him off on a high from our point of view and on a good note.”
Another success story of the Stoute-Juddmonte link-up was Expert Eye, who would go on to become a member of his owners’ stallion band – before recently switching to South Africa – after being guided to victories at both Royal Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup by the Newmarket handler.
After showcasing his potential in the early stages of his career, the son of Acclamation overcame hiccups at the end of his two-year-old season and at the beginning of his Classic year to eventually win three times during the summer of 2018.
Expert Eye bowed out after landing the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, and Mahon believes his handling of the colt was the epitome of Stoute’s genius as a trainer.
He added: “I suppose Expert Eye was his last Grade One winner for Juddmonte since I’ve started working for them and the job Sir Michael did with him from the start of his three-year-old career, when he had some stalls issues, I don’t think any man could have turned him round the way Michael did.
“To get him to win at Royal Ascot and then the Breeders’ Cup, that was a phenomenal training performance.”
