“It’s the first thing I look forward to during the day,” says Guy Heald in reference to catching up on news of the racing world and, more specifically, his own bloodstock interests. With a successful business career spent largely in banking, and a seat on the board of Southwold brewery Adnams among his other interests, Heald has plenty to occupy his time. The horses bring the fun.
He adds: “And the best part of the morning is a pedigree update from Darley. It certainly helps Mondays. I don’t want to sound like the late Queen, who turned to the Racing Post first thing every morning, but the first thing that interests me in the day is the state of horses and any possible entries. It’s something I enjoy, but I’m also trying to run it as a business.”
In this regard Heald appears to have found the perfect balance. With broodmares at his Egerton Stud on the outskirts of Newmarket and in Normandy with Ecurie des Monceaux and La Motteraye, there have been plenty of updates to keep the breeder happy in recent seasons.
In 2022, siblings Sea La Rosa and Deauville Legend took the G1 Prix de Royallieu and G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, boosting the family of Russian Rose, which had got the ball rolling for Heald’s breeding operation in the 1990s. This spring, the three-year-olds Arabian Crown and Fast Tracker won Classic trials for Heald as breeder and owner-breeder respectively, in England and France.
He sold Arabian Crown as a yearling to Godolphin for €600,000, and the Dubawi colt has been beaten just once, his four victories including two G3 successes. His dam Dubai Rose, by Dubai Destination, struck gold for her breeder again the following year when her Night Of Thunder colt sold for €660,000, and she has also produced the Dubawi Listed winner Everest Rose.
“I would say it’s very even between the two,” says Heald of the division of his operation between France and the UK. “The business horses are in France and the ones for personal enjoyment and pleasure are in England so that I can see them more easily.”
He continues: “I’m not a great subscriber to the maxim of three strikes and you’re out for mares because you always hope that something is going to suddenly spring out. I’ll probably sound a complete buffoon for saying that, but I’ve had results by hanging on.
“Maybe the hard-and-fast rule pays off for people in the long run, because even if the fifth one produces, you could go all the way to eight and nothing happens. But one horse can be so magical that I suspect it pays for the eight duds.”
Helping Heald in his quest for the magical horse has been Darley’s head of nominations Dawn Laidlaw, though the two are just as likely to confer on their shared love of tennis as they are about pedigrees.
“I really appreciate talking to Dawn,” he says. “We get good advice and follow-up as well. Dawn takes the trouble to come around to the stud and look at the foals.”
Along with Dubawi and his son Night Of Thunder, Heald has been a staunch supporter of Territories, whose fourth dam, Helen Street, also counts Street Cry, Shamardal and Victor Ludorum among her stallion descendants.
