Big Country’s Story

Big Country heads this list for alphabetical reasons but in other ways he also deserves to be Number One. For a start, he’s earned us more prize-money than any other horse we’ve been involved with; and he’s run in some of the sport’s most iconic races, from the Rosebery at Kempton (which he won in April 2017) to the John Smith’s Cup at York (runner-up in July 2017), the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket, the Lincoln at Doncaster and the Winter Derby at Lingfield (runner-up in February 2019).

We bought him from Charles O’Brien’s stable for 28,000 guineas in the autumn of 2016; he needed ulcer treatment and freshening up to begin with, but after a couple of months at Mick’s it was clear we had a smart horse on our hands. Three years of competing in high-class company followed.

It’s hard to pick a highlight, but, according to Timeform ratings, marginally his best efforts were in 2018 when he won the Zetland Gold Cup at Redcar and the Pomfret Stakes at Pontefract, both under power-packed rides from Silvestre De Sousa, with whom he forged a formidable partnership. Big Country was sold to join Jamie Osborne in the autumn of 2019 with a view to racing in Dubai. When Big Country reappeared in the sales at Doncaster in the autumn of 2020, we made a sentimental decision to buy him back.

Following victory at Chelmsford on his second start back in the care of Mick, Big Country sadly suffered a fatal heart attack when running at Wolverhampton on Boxing Day. He will always hold a special place in the hearts of The Horse Watchers, and it was a pleasure to own him for the majority of his career. He gave us some great memories and will be sorely missed.

Future Score’s Story

Future Score’s time with The Horse Watchers was short but sweet. We picked him up in partnership with well-known owner Craig Buckingham for £8,000 in June 2018 from the Ascot Horses-In-Training Sales after he’d had a couple of runs without success for Saeed Bin Suroor.

A well-bred son of Cape Cross, he’d been at Mick’s for only a few weeks before his work started to impress, and what was especially encouraging was the speed he was displaying on the gallops considering his pedigree included some strong influences for stamina.

We took him to Pontefract one Sunday in August for a maiden over a mile, and he didn’t disappoint, coming with a withering run down the outside under Silvestre to lead inside the final furlong and win at odds of 10-1. On an unforgettable afternoon in West Yorkshire Mick won four races from just four runners, and they also included own our Big Country in the listed Pomfret Stakes.

Soon after the Pontefract success we accepted an offer from Australia for Future Score, who has continued on the upgrade and won the $400,000 Cranbourne Cup in October 2020.

Garsman’s Story

We won’t own many tougher or more consistent horses than Garsman; in his eight outings for us between February and August 2020 he won three times and was runner-up on four other occasions. We’d bought him as a maiden from Michael O’Callaghan for 15,000 guineas the previous year, and after a small setback over the winter he turned up at Southwell for a five-furlong novice event and won well under Ali Rawlinson.

He followed up in a six-furlong handicap at Chelmsford eight days later under Adam Kirby before racing was shut down for nearly three months. During that period Garsman’s work on Mick’s gallop moved up several notches, so we were hopeful he’d remain competitive in handicaps.

Soon after racing resumed in June he won gamely at Newmarket under a fine ride from Silvestre and then ran his heart out in defeat four times, beaten only a head at Sandown on his final outing for us. He was sold privately shortly afterwards to continue his career in the Middle East.

Merryweather’s Story

We owned Merryweather for only eight months, but in that short space of time she gave us a great deal of fun and will be remembered fondly for her unquenchable desire to win; once in front she didn’t want to be passed. She was bought for 32,000 guineas as a twice-raced maiden from Ralph Beckett’s yard in October 2019. Mick liked her immediately and we hatched a winter campaign for her, starting with a “Plus Ten” maiden at Lingfield at the beginning of December.

This looked a decent race beforehand with Charlie Appleby, Roger Charlton and Archie Watson among the trainers represented, but, under an inspired ride from Ali, Merryweather tacked over from her wide draw and made all at odds of 22-1.

The same never-say-die attitude was in evidence as she completed a quick hat-trick with two front-running wins at Southwell in January. Back on turf after the resumption of racing, she made the frame in a couple of fillies handicaps before being sold for 48,000 guineas in July. She’ll hopefully have a successful second career at stud, and if Merryweather passes on her courage to her offspring, we wouldn’t mind owning one or two of them.

Saaheq’s Story

Saaheq’s story is an example of why patience is one of the most important factors in harnessing a racehorse’s potential. Having cost 330,000 guineas as a yearling, he showed only modest form in four runs for Brian Meehan as a three-year-old over seven furlongs and a mile. We bought him, for 26,000 guineas in the autumn of 2017, because we thought he’d improve for a switch to sprinting, but it was nearly a year before he saw a racecourse again.

After we’d had him about a month, he worked one morning with Hakam, who blew him away, and by the following April he’d had such a series of niggly problems that it was decided to take him out of training altogether. A couple of months in a field did Saaheq the power of good. By July, apparently thriving again and clearly enjoying the sunshine, he was standing up to his exercise considerably better, and when he did a sparkling piece of work with the 90-rated Barrington at the beginning of September it was clear that he was finally ready to roll.

He won a big-field handicap at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting the following week off a mark of 71, and over the next twelve months he scored another four times, including, memorably, in the valuable Scottish Sprint Cup at Musselburgh under Hollie Doyle.

Hakam’s Story

Hakam was enigmatic, unpredictable, but also versatile and extremely durable. In all, he ran twenty-five times in our colours, winning on five occasions. A well-bred colt, he initially went through the ring for $450,000 as a yearling, and after he’d won once from seven starts for Charlie Hills we paid £26,000 for him in August 2016, on the same day we bought Mithqaal. Hakam immediately responded well to Mick’s training and won a handicap at Chelmsford in September.

There followed a number of memorable days out in his company as it became apparent that he loved to travel. He won by the shortest of noses at Kempton the following March, thirty-five minutes before Big Country hacked up in the Rosebery Handicap on the same card. He ran a cracker to be fourth in the Jagersro Sprint in Sweden.

Then, evidently revved up by the fitting of flexi-blinkers, he came with a storming run under Luke Morris to win the Group 3 Polar Cup at Ovrevoll in Norway. Hakam notched one more win for The Horse Watchers, in quite a valuable handicap at Lingfield, before he was sold in December 2018 to race in Switzerland. And he liked it there, too, winning on the ice at St Moritz on his first outing for his new connections. A legend.

Mithqaal’s Story

One of the reasons for buying Mithqaal for 26,000 guineas in August 2016 was that he was by Speightstown, the sire of one of the first horses we’d been involved in together, Pearl Nation, and a stallion with a fine record on all-weather surfaces, especially the fibresand at Southwell.

He’d originally cost $275,000 as a foal and had won once from eight outings when trained by Barry Hills and Owen Burrows. Sure enough, when we took Mithqaal to Southwell for a gallop in mid-September he did a brilliant piece of work. The following week he made his debut for us in the Silver Cambridgeshire at Newmarket and recouped a large chunk of his purchase price in one fell swoop by winning in clear-cut style under Danny Brock at odds of 14-1.

He didn’t build on that form immediately in valuable events at York and Chelmsford, but with the fibresand card up our sleeve we were still hopeful there was better to come from him. Mithqaal went to Southwell for a useful Class 3 handicap just before Christmas and duly won well under Andrew Mullen, comfortably following up there in January; and that was that as we received a private offer for him to continue his career in America, and Mithqaal moved on to pastures new.

Kasbaan’s Story

It’s not often you can buy a horse in July and win nearly three times his purchase price by the middle of September, but that’s what happened with Kasbaan in 2019. He cost us 20,000 guineas from the Owen Burrows yard, and quickly settled in to the regime at Mick’s, working powerfully with the likes of Big Country.

The immediate plan was to prepare him for the valuable London Mile at Kempton, and it worked a treat as he took a qualifier for the big race a shade comfortably before landing the final in clear-cut style just four days later, well ridden each time by Ali. The combined prize-money came to £53,000.

Kasbaan didn’t win again in our colours but he ran well several times in defeat, including from a poor draw when sixth in the International Stakes at Ascot. He was sold for 65,000 guineas in August 2020, just over a year after he’d joined us.