Simon Mockridge

Just a handful of lots into the final day of Book 1 saw the twelfth seven-figure yearling of the Tattersalls October Sale when Juddmonte went to 1,050,000gns for the Night Of Thunder colt out of Quschi (Encosta De Lago). Bred by Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock, the Newsells Park Stud-consigned colt (lot 364) is a half-brother to GII Glens Falls Stakes winner Mrs Sippy (Blame) and to Listed winner Phantom Flight (Siyouni), from a family cultivated by Lord Howard de Walden and including his homebred champion Grand Lodge.  Earlier...

Like so many of his predecessors from Lodge Park Stud - and indeed this family - the Night Of Thunder colt who went through the ring as lot 134 proved a red-hot commodity during Tuesday's session at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with the Juddmonte team making its first purchase of the sale in securing him for 1,000,000gns. Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge said, "He is just a super horse, a lovely horse, and that is what you have to pay - it is very expensive in there [the...

One of the concerns of the most recent breeding season was the relative dearth of stallions retired to stud, particularly in Britain, for 2025. That should not be a concern for the forthcoming year, with a number of retirements already announced and more likely to follow. Leading the charge, appropriately, is Juddmonte's Lead Artist, who arrived at Banstead Manor Stud last week and is available for breeders to view during the October Sales. In a year in which Night Of Thunder has surged ahead of his own sire to head...

Group 1 winner Lead Artist has been retired and will stand at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud next year. The homebred son of Dubawi won the G1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May. From the same family as Dansili, the John and Thady Gosden trainee broke his maiden over a mile at York at three, with additional victories in the G3 Thoroughbred Stakes and the G3 Darley Stakes that year. His Lockinge victory was the highlight of his four starts this term and his record stands at 11-4-3-1 and $713,878 in...

Julian Richmond-Watson and Simon Mockridge were each honoured with separate awards during the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) Flat Breeders' Awards, sponsored by Watership Down Stud at Chippenham Park on Wednesday evening. Formerly the chairman of the TBA and now filling that same role at the Thoroughbred Group since 2023 as well as being a board member of the Horseracing Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and a member of the British Horseracing Association (BHA) Flat Pattern Committee, Richmond-Watson received the Andrew Devonshire Bronze which acknowledges outstanding achievement and contribution to the British...

A China Horse Club International-bred half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) (lot 219) brought €750,000 from Simon Mockridge on behalf of Juddmonte late in the day at Goffs. Consigned by Ballylinch Stud where his sire stands, the chestnut son of Lope De Vega (Ire) is from the same family as young sire Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who won a brace of Group 3s. The colt's sister, Saffron Beach, brought 3.6 million during the Tattersalls December Sale from Najd Stud back in...

Classic winner Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is standing his first season at Banstead Manor Stud in the UK, will shuttle to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, Juddmonte announced on Thursday. His fee will be NZ$35,000 + GST and his book will be limited to 120 mares. One of only nine horses to complete the G1 Dewhurst and G1 2,000 Guineas double, Chaldean stands alongside his sire, the multiple champion sire Frankel, who completed the double in 2010/2011. They are the only father-son pair...

Frankel (GB), who is set to become champion sire for the second time at the end of this year, has had his fee increased to a career high of £350,000 for 2024. Along with Dubawi (Ire), this makes him the joint-highest-priced stallion in Europe. Juddmonte has released the fees for its five European stallions, with Kingman (GB) remaining unchanged at £125,000 after a year in which his leading runners have included the top sprinter Kinross (GB) along with French Group 1 winners Sauterne (Fr) and Feed The Flame (GB). Kingman...

First job in the Thoroughbred industry? Mucking out at Guirys 1 in Coolmore Ireland on my year out from University. I think there were 20 foals in the barn - 18 by Sadler's Wells and two by Danehill. Biggest influence on your career? Ultimately, my father, who introduced both my brother William and I to racing. He loved his National Hunt and we spent many a happy afternoon at Huntingdon and Towcester. Later in life, both Richard Henry and Simon Mockridge played major roles in my experience and development. Favourite...

Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge went to €675,000 to acquire G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB})'s weanling half-sister by the late Le Havre (Ire) during Arqana's Vente d'Elevage in Deauville on Saturday. The bay foal was offered as part of the dispersal of Haras du Quesnay as lot 166. Also a half-sister to stakes winner and G2 Prix Greffulhe third Trois Rois (Fr) (Hernando {Fr}), the May foal counts the stakes-placed Trophee (Fr) (Mr. Sidney) as another half-sister. At stud, the latter has produced G2 Moonee Valley...

   In Part II of a two-part series, John Berry looks at Juddmonte's lasting influences from the late 80s through to the present on the 40th anniversary weekend of Prince Khalid Abdullah's first Classic win with Known Fact in the 2000 Guineas. Click here for Part I. When the mighty Dancing Brave (Lyphard) retired to stud, his brilliant 1986 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe triumph shining like a beacon in the collective consciousness, it was generally felt that Prince Khalid Abdullah had probably reached the pinnacle of his ownership...