Talent (horse)

Talent (foaled 25 February 2010) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the classic Oaks Stakes in 2013.

Background

Talent is a chestnut with a white blaze and long white socks on her hind legs, bred by the Ashbrittle Stud near Wellington in Somerset. Talent is from the first crop of foal sired by New Approach a horse which won four Group One races including the Epsom Derby, and was the equal highest-rated Thoroughbred in the world when trained by Jim Bolger in 2008. Other products of New Approach's first crop included Dawn Approach and the Dante Stakes winner Libertarian. Her dam, Prowess, won one minor race and was a grand-daughter of the Oaks winner Bireme, herself owned and bred by Mark Dixon's uncle R.D (Dick) Hollingsworth.^[1]

Talent is owned in partnership by the Ashbrittle Stud's owner James Rowsell and Mark Dixon.^[2] The filly was sent into training with Ralph Beckett at Kimpton near Andover in Hampshire. Beckett has described the filly as "very robust and hardy and she shows she’s tough in everything she does".^[3]

Racing career

2012: two-year-old season

Talent began her racing career on 18 August 2012 in a six furlong maiden race for two-year-old fillies at Newbury. She started at odds of 14/1 and finished third of the ten runners, four lengths behind the winner Malilla. At Kempton on 7 September, Talent started the 6/4 favourite for a seven furlong race on the polytrack surface and won by a neck from Hanzada despite hanging to the left in the closing stages. In this race she was ridden by Beckett's stable jockey Jim Crowley.^[4]

2013: three-year-old season

On her three-year-old debut, Talent contested the Pretty Polly Stakes over ten furlongs at Newmarket on 5 May. Ridden by Crowley, she started at odds of 11/1 against seven opponents and won by half a length from Lady Nouf.^[5] On 31 May, Talent was one of eleven fillies to contest the 235th running of the Oaks Stakes over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs Racecourse. Her stable companion Secret Gesture started second favourite and was selected by Crowley, whilst Talent started at odds of 20/1 and was ridden by Richard Hughes. Talent, who was drawn in stall 3, raced towards the back of the field and turned into the straight in ninth place. Hughes struggled to obtain a clear run in the straight before producing the filly with a strong run on the outside. Talent overtook Secret Gesture inside the final furlong and quickly drew clear to win by three and three quarter lengths.^[6] After the race Hughes said that he had been unimpressed when he rode the filly for the first time three days earlier, and Beckett admitted that Secret Gesture had appeared to be in a "different league" in training gallops.^[7] Hughes, who was winning his second successive classic following the win of Sky Lantern in the 1000 Guineas explained that he had planned to make the running on Talent, but changed his tactics just before the start, when he realised that several other jockeys had the same idea.^[8]

On 21 July Talent started the 11/4 second favourite for the Irish Oaks at the Curragh. Ridden by Crowley, she was never in contention and finished last of the seven runners behind the French-trained Chicquita.

On 14 September, Talent was matched against ten three-year-old colts in the 237th running of the St Leger over fourteen and a half furlongs at Doncaster Racecourse. Starting at odds of 9/1, she was restrained by Crowley at the back of the field before moving forward early in the straight. She struggled to obtain a clear run and was hampered a furlong from the finish before finishing strongly to take second place, one and a quarter lengths behind the winner Leading Light.^[9] On her final appearance of the season, Talent ran in the British Champions Fillies' and Mares' Stakes for which she started the 7/2 co-favourite alongside Hot Snap and Dalkala. She stayed on in the straight to finish third behind Seal of Approval and Belle de Crecy.

2014: four-year-old season

Talent remained in training as a four-year-old but failed to win in four starts. On her seasonal debut she returned to the scene of her Oaks victory for the Group One Coronation Cup but never looked likely to win and finished fifth behind Cirrus des Aigles. She was then dropped in class and finished third in the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock Park and fourth in the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse in July. In August she was moved back up to Group One class for the Yorkshire Oaks and finished fifth to Tapestry, eighteen lengths behind the winner. Six days later Beckett announced that the filly would be retired from racing an return to the Ashbrittle Stud to become a broodmare, saying "She gave us the best day of our training career when winning the Oaks last year... but it became obvious that she is not the same filly this year and so it became clear that the best thing to do was to retire her... We will miss her, but with luck we can look forward to training her progeny".^[10]

Pedigree

References