Author: Victor Sheahan

Compton Place is after a fantastic few weeks. On the 19th July the six year old Intrepid Jack won the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes over 6 furlongs. On the 1st August the two year old Prolific won the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and then to cap it all on the 22nd August another 6 year old Borderlescott won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes (following in the footsteps of his grandsire Ahonoora) when the race was run at Newmarket after York was cancelled. Borderlescotts victory was his first ever Group win and was Compton Place’s first ever Group One victory. Compton Place has earned a reputation as a good sire of tough speedy horses and is good value at his current fee of £7500.

Racecourse Career:

Compton Place’s racecourse career is really all about one race the 1997 July Cup. He triumphed at 50-1 defeating Royal Applause. As his price suggests this was a massive improvement on his previous form although at 2 he did finish runner up in the Gimcrack and the Flying Childers. In his previous run he had been well beaten in the King’s Stand and he must be one of the few Group One winners about which the trainer had to explain the improvement in form! The rest of his career was a big disappointment, his final run at three was in the Nunthorpe but he missed the kick and only beat one horse home. Kept in training at four he ran three times but finished close to last on all his runs including when bidding for a repeat in the July Cup.

Stud Career.

The below table taken from his home stud (http://www.whitsburymanorstud.co.uk/) shows an analysis of Compton Place first 6 crops.  His foal sizes are relatively small in the modern era dropping to a mere 39 recorded foals in 2002.  Despite his current success it it refreshing that it is advertised that his books are restricted to 100 mares.  It is impressive to note his very large percentage of runners to foals which indicates that he is siring sound animals and another intriguing stat I came across was in relation to the number of lifetime runs per runner (13) which reinforced the soundness of his offspring. His percentage of stakes winners at around 3% is not impressive but considering the quality of mares it is not too disappointing. A cursory analysis of the winning distances of his offspring tells you at a glance all you need to know about the distance preference of his offspring with 5 furlong and 6 furlong races dominating in terms of wins and runs.  He was viewed by breeders as a source of cheap speed and he has delivered them just that.  HIs previous best progeny include Godfrey Street who went one better than Compton Place and won the Flying Childers (defeating his paternal half brother Hunter Street), Passified who is Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 placed in the US, Boogie Street who was only a listed winner but came within a head of winning a Kings Stand, multiple stakes winners Angus Newz and . Many of his better runners including Boogie Street, Godfrey Street and Prolific were trained by Richard Hannon who is an enthusiastic supporter of the stallion and his been well rewarded for his foresight. There are no obvious nicks when looking at the pedigrees of Compton Place’s previous stakes winners although he has two out of Night Shift mares in Passified and Italian Group 3 winner Champion Place. Intrepid Jack is out a Primo Dominie mare, Prolific out of Bahamian Bounty mare, Judd Street out of a College Chapel mare, Boogie Street out of a Distant Relative mare and Godfrey Street who is out a Caerleon mare. Incidentally Caerleon also appears in the third generation of Prolific.

Indian Ridge as a Sire of Sires

Compton Place’s sire Indian Ridge was an unexpected success at stud rising from humble beginnings to be the star in the Irish National Stud roster with two Breeders Cup mile winners in Ridgewood Pearl and Domedriver along with champion sprinter Namid, Irish Guineas winner Indian Haven, National Stakes winner and Irish Derby runner-up Definite Article and dual group one winner Indian Ink. Indian Ridge has mixed results as a sire of sires. Definite Article was atypical of the best Indian Ridges in his aptitude for middle distances and at stud he followed suit by siring an outstanding stayer in Vinnie Roe, who is himself now at stud. Despite or more likely because of the success of Vinnie Roe, Definite Article is now covering large books as a dual purpose sire. Ridgewood Ben ( a brother to Ridgewood Peal) was disappointing even for a cheap sire and the likes of Fumo Di Londra , Handsome Ridge, Indian Rocket and Tumbleweed Ridge also failed to sire anything of note from admittedly poor quality mares.  Namid started promisingly with his first crop and sires lots of winners but needs a few top class horses if he is to justify his reported fee of €10000. Domedriver received a quality book of mares but although his oldest progeny are still only three, results to date are very disappointing and he has left Lanwades for France. Munir has a quality pedigree as a son of Al Bahatri but also has failed to deliver any offspring of note. Thus it is fair to rank Compton Place as the best son of Indian Ridge currently at stud but that could change quickly if Sleeping Indian or Indian Haven start to deliver with their large initial crops.

Borderlescott’s pedigree:

It is a rarity nowadays to find a pedigree devoid of Northern Dancer or Mr Prospector but Borderlescott is one of those rarities. His dam Jeewan was a 12 furlong winner as a three year old at Catterick, and this was her sole success in seven outings for Harry Thompson Jones. She was a daughter of Touching Wood (also trained by Jones) who was runner up to Golden Fleece in the Derby but notched a classic double in the Irish and English St Legers. He spent only two seasons at stud in England befor being sold to New Zealand. His most notable offspring was Ascot Gold Cup winner Ashal (also trained by Jones) and it is likely Borderlescotts breeders were hoping to inject some speed into the pedigree. Jeewan was previously the dam of 4 winners but none of them displayed stakes class. They did however display toughness and longevity with Woodbury (by Woodborough) running 58 times from the age of 2-6 and she registered 6 wins and 9 places, Harry Browne by Al Hareb ran 26 times winning 5 times and Patricia Philomena by Prince of Birds ran 37 times winning on 4 occasions. The moderate sires she visited Woodborough, Al Hareb, Prince of Birds, Gallic League, Classic Music and Primo Dominie are appropriate given her own pedigree and moderate racecourse performance and the 13000 guineas given for Borderlescott as a yearling at Doncaster must have seemed a fair price at the time. It is now looking like a real bargain and there could be more to come from this tough, progressive horse.