Stable Musings With Charlie Hills

By Chris McGrath

Whatever he goes on to achieve in the future, Charlie Hills will never forget 2015. For all that he had already enjoyed success at Classic and Breeders' Cup level, his fourth full season with a licence was illuminated by a champion of a caliber even his father, Barry, can seldom have sampled in his long and distinguished career. But it was not just his trainer's ability that was amplified in the four G1 sprints won by Muhaarar (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). His use of the new G1 Commonwealth Cup, as a springboard to stardom, also provided immediate vindication for a race devised to rescue 3-year-old sprinters from the old dilemma; whether to take on seasoned, physically mature rivals at the right trip, or to stick with their contemporaries over the wrong one. Hills, who dropped Muhaarar back to six furlongs after a single experiment over a mile round the bends of Longchamp, believes that many sprinters have lost their essential zip by persevering at longer distances at a formative stage. “The programme really helps this kind of horse now,” he said yesterday. “When you're trying to train a horse to get a mile, you have to keep him relaxed – and sprinting is something that a horse has to learn about as he goes along. Muhaarar was able to do that all through the year. The way things were before, it sometimes felt necessary to sell to Hong Kong, but now there's a programme in place for them here.”

Dynamic as he was, Muhaarar was evidently the most obliging of animals. “He had such a good temperament,” Hills said. “Every morning, he was the same; relaxed, but always ready to go about his work. He loved his racing, and I don't think I ever saw such a healthy horse. He was so easy to train, and I'm sure he would have remained very hard to beat had he stayed in training.” Not that anyone could question Sheikh Hamdan's eagerness to launch such a handsome son of a top stallion on his own stud career. “I believe there has been a lot of interest at the fee,” Hills said. “That's what they try to do at Shadwell, keep it affordable, and Muhaarar is such a good size – not too big, either – that he should really go well with a lot of mares.” Having been catapulted by Muhaarar into the top half dozen stables in Britain, Hills must now try to find a new star to consolidate his status. “I found the top end of the yearling sales very, very strong,” he admitted. “Out of reach, really, in terms of trainers' horses. The type you used to be able to buy on spec for 50,000 often ended up costing 100,000 and will obviously be that much harder to sell. But I'm very excited about the yearlings that we have coming in now. There seems to be lots of size and scope about, which is always good – and quite a few more precocious ones, too.”

As the latest contributor to a series keeping TDN readers ahead of the game in 2016, Hills picked out a couple of youngsters from his Lambourn yard expected to build on contrasting foundations laid in their first season. “Dark Crescent (Ire) (Elnadim) improved with each of his runs,” he said. “After three starts in maidens at six furlongs, he won a nursery over seven at Haydock in October. He should progress again at a mile as a 3-year-old and might even make a Britannia type.”

Mootaharer (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), on the other hand, really landed running – as well he might, as a half-brother to the stable's departing champion. “He was probably unlucky not to win at Salisbury first time out,” Hills said. “And then he won by four and a half lengths at Newmarket, again at seven furlongs. He has a great attitude and I would say he'll get a mile, at least. He's the sort that will keep getting sharper as he runs.”

As an invidious final task for this series, trainers have been invited to pick out a horse from another stable to have suggested Classic potential. Hills does not have far to seek, however, as he nominates a colt saddled by his father to chase home Air Force Blue (War Front) in the G1 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes. “I think Massaat (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) might have had a bit of an interrupted preparation, in that he had to travel to and from a meeting that was cancelled at Yarmouth,” he said. “And he then had to be turned round a week later to win his maiden at Leicester. I do know that Dad thinks very highly of him.”