When it came to marketing Logician, we didn’t just commission a press release from ace bloodstock reporter Ivor Scoop, but a glossy brochure too, for his words are able to reveal far more about the horse’s attributes than mine ever could.
However, we begin with the story of how we came to purchase Logician to stand at Shade Oak, using background provided by Martin Stevens‘ Good Morning Bloodstock piece in the Racing Post:
“Bryan Mayoh, the joint-breeder of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Sizing John, and one of the shareholders in Logician, tells Good Morning Bloodstock that he had had the horse earmarked for a long time.
He says: “Over the years I’ve undertaken detailed analyses of what factors indicate whether a newly-retired horse will become a successful National Hunt stallion – these taught me what I might have guessed in the first place! Firstly, the horse must be a good racehorse, with a Timeform rating of at least 120 and ideally 125+. Secondly, he must possess the combination of high cruising speed and stamina that is essential to the best middle-distance horses, racing over ten to 14 furlongs. Thirdly, he must ideally be by a stallion rated in the top two per cent of sires ranked on the RPRs of their offspring – and certainly in the top ten per cent. In past years such horses would have been in great demand as Flat stallions; today middle-distance horses rarely get the chance.
“The trick is to identify these animals before other people do and then hope to buy them. For several years we’ve tracked horses with these characteristics, waiting to act when injury or illness prevented them from continuing to race, We tried, and failed, to buy Crystal Ocean; and I first identified Logician as a target when Phillipa Cooper told me how impressed she was by him when he won the Great Voltigeur just before Crystal Ocean took the Juddmonte International. I was bowled over by his looks and walk when I saw him before the St Leger – and even more by his performance when he won it.
“By Frankel, who surpassed Sea-Bird as the supreme racehorse of my lifetime and is now a great sire, 126p rated by Timeform and outstanding at 12 to 14 furlongs, while big, good-looking, a great mover and with a fantastic temperament, only one question remained. Could we afford him?”
After his Leger win we certainly didn’t expect to afford him. Timeform awarded him the title of ‘Champion 3YO Stayer’ of the year and the Timeform Flat Annual for 2019 (sadly the last ever published) described him as ‘a budding superstar, without doubt the most exciting prospect among the latest season’s 3YO colts, with more than enough speed to be dropped back to a mile and a half, or even a mile and a quarter.’
Ivor Scoop’s Logician brochure now takes up the tale:
“Immediately after the St Leger John Gosden suggested of Logician that: ‘He’s come on a long journey to win a Leger in track record time. We’ll put him away until next year now.’ A programme aimed at Europe’s best middle-distance races was outlined, beginning with the Eclipse S over 1¼ miles, a distance more than half a mile below that of the St Leger.
However, it was not to be. Just over three months after his Classic triumph Logician was struck down by an attack of peritonitis, an inflammation of the inner lining of the abdominal cavity. It later transpired that he also suffered from pleurisy, in which the membrane that surrounds the chest wall and covers the lungs becomes inflamed. He was treated in Newmarket Equine Hospital but very nearly lost his life.
As Juddmonte Racing Manager Barry Mahon now says: ‘The illness left him fighting for his life but the same guts and determination he showed on the track thankfully helped him pull through.”
A special box was built for him in one of the Clarehaven paddocks, where he could get plenty of fresh air and be kept away from potential infections, and the gradual build-up to full fitness began. It was almost 12 months after the St Leger that Logician returned to racing, in a two-horse Class 2 race at Doncaster. He won easily and all seemed well, but next time out he ran disappointingly. Back again as a 5YO he was placed in two Black-Type races against decent opposition, but it was apparent that the brilliance he had shown as a 3YO had disappeared.
The top 5% of a racehorse’s performance probably represents the difference between a good horse and a great one – and, possibly due to residual damage to his lungs, that 5% was no longer there. Logician still looked magnificent and showed the same elastic action, but the added touch of brilliance had gone from his racing ability and it was decided to offer him for sale as a stallion.”
We had first expressed an interest in Logician as a stallion after he lost his second race as a 4YO, and sought the assistance of Grant (‘Badger’) Pritchard-Gordon, the former Juddmonte Racing Manager. The feedback was that Logician might be for sale and so Peter Hockenhull, Simon Cox and myself went to see the horse, with the idea of setting up a small syndicate to put in an offer.
The Logician brochure continues the story with an Ivor Scoop interview that must have brought tears to the eyes of those fortunate enough to read it, entitled ‘Why I Fell In Love with Logician’ by Peter Hockenhull.
“I first met Logician on 13th October 2020 (the date is seared into my memory, in part because Emma just looked it up in the diary), when I travelled down to John Gosden’s yard to meet the horse, in company with Bryan Mayoh and Simon Cox. To be honest I didn’t really expect we could buy him, as the price Bryan and Simon were talking about seemed excessive – far more than Shade Oak had ever paid before; but the trip also offered the prospect of meeting the great Enable and the wonderful Stradivarius.
We did indeed get to visit the two in their stables, Enable disdainfully wondering that someone had the effrontery to come into her box and Stradivarius contentedly munching his hay. However, these encounters didn’t really have the impact on me that I had anticipated – because by then I was in love!
The object of my affections was the grey colt who lived in a purpose-built box in one of the paddocks. I went into his box and found a happy, relaxed horse – but one that was clearly a commanding presence. Logician was led out for our inspection and we saw a big, strong colt (at least 16-2 by my ‘nose measure’) with powerful quarters and great bone. He walked up and down with long, easy strides, showing fluid movement from the shoulder and considerable over-track. I looked at him again, from front, back and sides; I saw him walk again. That’s when I knew it was the real thing!
“This is the sort of stallion I have always wanted; I didn’t think we’d ever find one like this” were among the words I recall saying. Simon and Bryan seemed pleased but surprisingly unsurprised by my reaction; now it wasn’t a case of whether we were talking about paying too much for Logician but of whether we could afford him.
It turned out that Juddmonte decided not to retire the colt that year; so I tried to forget my lost love, considering other stallions that the Shade Oak talent-spotting team suggested from time to time. But in the words of a song about another lost love, my reaction always seemed to be: “Nothing compares…”
Nine months later it became clear that Logician was to be retired; and this time I didn’t need to be convinced about wanting him, only that buying him wouldn’t land me in the bankruptcy court. Another Cox – Mayoh pincer movement, this time over drinks and a spreadsheet in the local pub, settled that concern. However, another prospective syndicate member, Liz Lucas, did need convincing about the price. Bryan, who was organising the syndicate, suggested they meet up in Newmarket to look at Logician.
‘If you see the horse and don’t want to send him your best mares, then don’t buy into him’ was his proposal. Liz and Bryan met up; they talked to John Gosden; Liz looked at Logician intently. She saw him posed; she examined his limbs; she saw him walk, easily but powerfully; she saw the calm way he looked around, watching other horses going out to exercise but showing no signs of anxiety to join them.
Liz fell in love with Logician too; and Swanbridge Bloodstock joined Shade Oak, Bryan, Simon and Richard Newland in ‘the Logicians Syndicate’.
And all of them will be sending him their best mares…”
Even that oversimplifies things. The sale of Logician was instigated by Juddmonte via a bidding process, which at our request used ‘sealed bids’ (we didn’t want to get into an auction). One of the putative shareholders (the one subjected to the ‘pincer movement’) wanted to offer substantially less than we had the previous year; two wanted to offer a similar sum; another agreed with the similar offer after her visit to see the horse; and the final one would have paid more. Eventually we settled on the same offer as we made in 2020 but agreed to Badger’s suggestion that we ‘put in a kicker’ of £25,000 on top, which might just swing things in our favour.
Shortly after the closing date we were told that our offer had been accepted, with Badger advising me that the ‘kicker’ had made the difference (but then, as Mandy Rice-Davies once so aptly commented on a different matter, ‘He would, wouldn’t he?’). Even then we weren’t home.
The horse would need to be insured and, given his severe illness of 12 months previously, this was surely no formality. However, the veterinary examination indicated nothing to worry about on that account – but there was a slight problem in that two sarcoids were found on his belly, not unusual in a grey horse but not in a great place for a stallion – and might they just be malignant?
Juddmonte arranged for their removal and analysis – and they weren’t, phew! Insurance was possible and swiftly arranged, and on the 30th of July 2021 Peter and I went to Newmarket to pick up our new stallion to prepare him for his new career.
Here is how the Ivor Scoop press release reported the news:
“LOGICIAN TO STAND AT SHADE OAK STUD IN 2022
Shade Oak Stud has announced the acquisition from Juddmonte Farms of the St Leger (G1) and Great Voltigeur S (G2) winner Logician to stand at the Shropshire-based stud next year.
Commented stud owner Peter Hockenhull: ”The purchase of Logician is the culmination of a four-year search to bring another top-class stallion prospect to Shade Oak, one with all the qualities needed in a champion NH sire; Logician ticks every box.
“He is by Frankel, the best racehorse I have ever seen and now succeeding his own sire, Galileo, as the world’s best stallion, from a Black-type mare that has bred six winners from six runners, including four Black-type horses, and is herself half-sister to Cityscape and Bated Breath. He stands 16.2 h.h. with great bone, plenty of strength and substance, a lovely walk and a fantastic temperament.
“He won the Great Voltigeur S on only his fourth start and the St Leger on his fifth, in a record time and earning a Timeform rating of 126p whilst easily beating top-class rivals such as Sir Ron Priestley, Nayef Road, Sir Dragonet and Il Paradiso.
“Sadly, John Gosden’s ambitious plans for Logician’s 4YO campaign, starting with the Eclipse S over 10 furlongs, had to be abandoned after a life-threatening attack of peritonitis and pleurisy at the end of his 3yo year, so he was unable to show just what he was innately capable of as a mature horse.
“However, I am encouraged that Juddmonte were keen to retain breeding rights in the horse for use on their own mares, so I look forward to some high-class runners by him not only over Jumps but also on the Flat. I am extremely grateful to the Abdullah family for supporting British breeding by selling Logician to a stud in this country, and to Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock, whose long-term association with Juddmonte, Prince Khalid’s family and this pedigree helped us greatly in this transaction.”
Logician was unbeaten in his five races as a 3YO, from 10 to 14.5 furlongs, earning a Timeform Rating of 126p and a Racing Post Rating of 121. Though unable to show the same sparkle after his illness, his overall record comprised 6 wins and 2 placings from 9 starts for earnings of £547,751. He was Frankel’s first Classic-winning son, having subsequently been joined by the current 3YOs Adayar and Hurricane Lane.
Logician’s previous connections confirmed the high regard in which they held him. After his St Leger win trainer John Gosden commented: “He’s a gorgeous horse, he’s done nothing but improve through the year. He’s amazing to be around, he’s got this wonderful stride and this laid-back attitude.”
Looking back now, Gosden, who formerly trained the outstanding Jump sires Flemensfirth, Presenting and Shantou, reflects that: “Logician was still improving when he won the St Leger, quickening in the style of his sire. We planned a major Group 1 campaign over 10 and 12 furlongs as a 4YO – he was that good – but unfortunately illness got in the way. But as well as a fantastic physique and tremendous stride, Logician has a great mind – nothing fazes him and he puts everything into his racing. He has all the ingredients to be an outstanding dual-purpose sire.”
Added Juddmonte’s Racing Manager Barry Mahon: “From the start Logician was a special horse, a standout yearling among the Juddmonte crop that year. His size, strength and beautiful action, combined with good conformation, had everyone excited from an early stage and he didn’t disappoint. His unbeaten 3 year old season ended with a dominant victory in the St Leger. Unfortunately, an illness later that year left him fighting for his life but the same guts and determination he showed on the track thankfully helped him pull through.
“We have no doubt he was one of the very best middle-distance horses around. Being by Frankel, and given his exceptional physique and performance, Logician is a huge asset to British breeding. Shade Oak have guided many top-class stallions through their careers and I’m sure they have another top-class prospect on their hands.”
Concluded Peter Hockenhull: “At Shade Oak we only stand stallions that we really believe in; we stand them for the long-term and we support them with our own mares. Our shareholders in Logician share this vision and will also be sending him top-class mares. I am immensely excited by his prospects; he has all the qualities I have long sought in a NH stallion – pedigree, performance, size, conformation, walk and temperament. He is virtually impossible to fault.
“The Great British Bonus and NH Elite Mares Schemes, championed by the Thoroughbred Breeders Association and supported by the Levy Board, are transforming the prospects for British breeders, making it possible for studs here to purchase stallions of the quality of Logician. For British breeders there is simply no need to send mares abroad in search of top-class stallions. Instead, support the ones standing right here and be eligible for 100% GBB bonuses!”
Terms for Logician will be announced at a later date.”
They were indeed, and they were most reasonable, even if I say so myself. A ‘Shade Oak Welcomes Logician’ Open Day was also held and the glossy brochure mailed out. Breeders responded as we hoped they would, and excellent books of mares, in both quantity and quality, have visited Logician. The stallion rose to the challenge of his new career enthusiastically and energetically; and in his first three seasons he covered well over 450 mares with in excess of 85% being in foal on October 1st. His foals tend to be good walkers, deep-bodied and with good bone, putting on weight significantly more rapidly than is usual.
Now it’s up to them to help Logician live up to our expectations!