IF DAVID LODER wanted to express his ambitions in bricks and mortar, he could hardly have made a more powerful statement than he did yesterday, when revealing his next home as the historic Egerton Stud, adjacent to the July Course at Newmarket. For in resuming his own career as a public trainer, he will also be hoping to revive one of the faded glories of the Turf. Here, in fascinating tandem, are two fresh starts in one.
During the winter, Loder resolved to quit training after this, his fifth season supervising Godolphin’s European juveniles. But his appetite was soon renewed by the opportunity to race a few older horses, too, and in May he acknowledged that the retirement he was proposing would be premature. Very few stables in the country, however, could offer what he wanted; even fewer, presumably, are for sale. Then his attention was arrested by the poignant decline of Egerton — and its enduring opportunities.
Built in 1891, Egerton soon prospered. Richard Marsh trained four Derby winners here, including three in five years. Diamond Jubilee went on to win the Triple Crown. Like Persimmon, he was owned by the Prince of Wales; in between came Jeddah, who won at 100-1. A few years later, as King Edward VII, Marsh’s chief patron became the only reigning monarch to win the Derby, with Minoru. Egerton also housed many champions at stud, but it has struggled to live up to its heritage in recent years, changing hands frequently. Last autumn, an attempt was made to restore Egerton as a commercial stud, but the enterprise proved brief and unhappy.
The 100-acre site remains full of possibilities, however, for a man of such assurance and resource. It has 120 boxes at present, and Loder is installing six furlongs of Polytrack to complement a corresponding turf gallop. He intends to move in at the end of October.
“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to train from Egerton,” Loder said. “In the past, it was one of the most successful yards in Newmarket. It has all the advantages of a private training centre, along with easy access to the (public) gallops. Although it has not been a racing stable since the Second World War, I very much hope we can return Egerton to the success it enjoyed at the turn of the last century.”
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Loder ended a quiet spell yesterday when Anglo Saxon won at Bath. His older horses have paid a price for their spree in the spring, while the two-year-olds have been regrouping since Royal Ascot. The defeat of Kheleyf there was a disappointment to many, but his form has since acquired a solid look and he is being freshened up for a possible crack at the Scottish Equitable Gimcrack Stakes at York on August 20.
Byron is another candidate for that race, while Rule Of Law, the Kingmambo colt who hacked up over course and distance last month, is on target for the Acomb Stakes at the same meeting.
These young colts will be set a new standard when Three Valleys, the runaway Coventry winner, meets the flamboyant One Cool Cat in the Waterford Wedgwood Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday. Aidan O’Brien, trainer of the latter, may also return High Chaparral to action in the Royal Whip Stakes on the same card, though only if he considers the ground “safe”. The dual Derby winner has taken longer than anticipated to recover from a shoulder injury.
Perhaps Sven-Göran Eriksson will stay in Ireland for this excellent card. Yesterday the organisers of the Blue Square Shergar Cup were disappointed to learn that the England football side’s head coach would be unable to undertake his role as “team leader” for the Rest of the World jockeys at Ascot on Saturday, because of an unexpected friendly between Leeds and Aston Villa in Dublin. Seldom can the story “Eriksson quits” have merited so brief a footnote.