After she produced her Black Sam Bellamy filly in 2014 the intention was that Perrotine would go to Ireland to visit Fame and Glory. Despite the stallion’s undoubted potential, this may not have been my most inspired idea given that he potentially carried the temperamental influences of Montjeu (erratic racing behaviour) and Shirley Heights (aggression) close up in his pedigree, whilst the mare was far from straight forward.
However, I somehow managed to miscalculate when Perry would be due for covering; and when I advised Peter Hockenhull that she would shortly be travelling to Ireland, he advised me that she was coming into season and would be ready for covering before she could get there. I therefore switched to Black Sam Bellamy for a repeat of the previous year’s mating (actually one in which temperaments would be far more appropriately balanced).
Since her brother John had already won a Grade 1 race, the resulting foal was another filly that we always intended to keep for racing. She was imaginatively nicknamed ‘Baby’ by Dorte.
‘Baby’ was raised at Shade Oak with but one incident, when as a yearling she suffered from osteocondritis dessicans (OCD) in one of her hocks. This required arthroscopic surgery to remove fragments of cartilige from around the joint – we still have the small jar containing these fragments that Peter Hockenhull kindly presented to Dorte on the occasion of her birthday party.
She recovered well from the treatment and was soon able to rejoin ‘the Groovy Gang’ of yearling fillies at Shade Oak via the encouragement of her good friend, ‘Jaffa’ (a. k. a. Absolute Jaffa – later a very promising chaser and a beautiful jumper of fences until her trainer ran her once too often on summer ground). In due course, she came to us to be educated by Dorte’s showjumper, ‘Vincitore’, in the elements of loose schooling.
Anythingforlove was sent to Ireland to be broken and pre-trained by Denis Leahy in the autumn of her 2YO year, where she did all she was asked without showing any special signs of ability. Once it was apparent that her older sister, ‘Deadringer’, had been too backward to race in her 3YO / 4YO season, we decided not to attempt to put her into training as a 3YO but to continue with spells of rest at Ballincurrig and pre-training with Denis before sending her to a trainer in England in the Autumn of her 4YO year.
The problem was that by this time Deadringerforlove had not exactly set the world alight, whilst the feedback about her sister as late as the September of her 4YO year was simply that she done all she had been asked and ought to be good enough to win a race or two. The equine ‘expert’ involved in ‘Deadringer’ was frustrated at her move to Richard Newland; another wanted to see her sister before getting involved in the lease; and a third was half-hearted – all of which dampened my enthusiasm.
Accordingly, in November, when Anythingforlove was almost ready to race, I took up Peter Hockenhull’s suggestion of contacting Foxtrot Racing, whose manager, Dan Abraham, was happy to accept the offer of a free lease on such a well-bred animal. We agreed that she would be trained by Jamie Snowden at Lambourn, who had previously won with our mare Lostnfound.
Only six weeks after Anythingforlove moved back to England she was ready for her first race, a Mares NH Flat race at Uttoxeter on New Year’s Eve 2019, where she was to be ridden by Page Fuller. I called Denis from the car when parked at the racecourse, and in our conversation he expressed the hope that Page would be strong enough for her. I asked if he meant strong enough to drive her, to which his response was: “No, strong enough to hold her!”.
He then told me that, in one of the schooling bumpers used to educate her, she had finished ahead of his mare Watergate Lady, who had already been second in a NH Flat race. When the girl riding Watergate Lady had looked behind for Anythingforlove she had seen no sign of her and asked if she had pulled up, to be told: “No, she went past you and finished ahead!” It seemed that Anythingforlove liked to save her efforts for the racecourse, so she might have more chance than I at least had thought (Dorte had no doubts).
She showed that same attitude at Uttoxeter. In the racecourse stables she settled immediately, looking for hay and sniffing the bedding to see if it might contain something interesting to eat; but, once tacked up and led into the parade ring, she looked alert and ready for action. It was quite a transformation.
Her performance in the race was most professional, belying her status as 10-1 fifth favourite of nine runners. She was held up in mid division on the rail for the first mile, then moved up as they began the long turn towards the straight, entering the straight in third place. She continued her progress to lead over three furlongs out, then fought off the challenge of favourite, La Reine Poutine, to run out a clear two length winner, still going strongly as she passed the post. Back in fifth was the subsequent EBF Mares Hurdle Final winner, Bourbon Beauty.
It was a very promising first run, and the celebratory drinks in the Uttoxeter Owners’ Lounge with the Foxtrot Anythingforlove Syndicate were a great way to begin New Year’s Eve.
After a minor setback Anythingforlove was unable to run in February, as planned, but by March I had a most ingenious plan for her next race. This was to target a Mares NH Flat Race at Uttoxeter on the 21st, for this was to be the date the Great British Bonus scheme (on which I had been working for two years for the TBA) was to be launched – and I rather wanted her to be the first winner.
However, the trainer felt she needed to race before then and his own ingenious plan was to go for an Any Sex bumper at Catterick on March 4th, possibly racing at Uttoxeter afterwards. I disagreed with this approach, but Foxtrot had the final say on the racing programme. Dan agreed with Jamie’s advice, and I agreed to stay at home and sulk.
At Catterick ‘Baby’ faced what looked like five fairly moderate geldings and went off 6-5 favourite. Again ridden by Page Fuller, she made the running at a decent pace and led by two lengths entering the straight. 2½ furlongs out, the gelding Foster’sisland, receiving 4lb in weight, challenged strongly and Page had to ask for more urgency. After two slaps with the whip ‘Baby’ got the message, lengthened her stride and came away to win by an impressive 6½ lengths.
After that success I expected to agonise about whether Uttoxeter would come too soon or we should wait for the Grade 2 Mares NH Flat race at Aintree. However, this was a case in which the ‘bird in the hand’ strategy comprehensively proved to be the best, since the subsequent Covid-19 lockdown meant that neither meeting was held. The first Great British Bonus was landed over jumps in July, whilst ‘Baby’ was still enjoying her final pick of summer grass before beginning her build-up to the forthcoming season.
That season began on a distinctly frustrating note, though, in Anythingforlove’s first race over hurdles at Uttoxeter in late November. Adjusting his stirrups at the start, jockey Gavin Sheehan made what the trainer (as quoted on RacingTV) described as ‘a schoolboy error’, omitting to put the pin back in properly. Soon after the start the stirrups gave way and dangled uselessly, with the jockey spending the next two miles alternately trying to fix the problem or hanging on to the reins and attempting to stay on board as the mare jumped the hurdles unaided. It was a completely wasted run that left me somewhat unimpressed.
However, Jamie suggested that the mare had not lost much weight after what he regarded as equivalent to ‘a racecourse gallop and some loose schooling’, and only nine days later Gavin was afforded the opportunity to rectify the situation at Lingfield – an opportunity that I would have been somewhat reluctant to give him. The opposition didn’t look strong and she started as 4-9 favourite.
The race was relatively straight forward, with Anythingforlove lying in third place early on but moving up to lead at halfway. She went two to three lengths clear entering the straight and ran on under hands and heels urging to win by 7½ lengths. The only minor glitches were that she jumped right at the first and was slightly jerky at a couple of others when firmly on the bridle. Nonetheless, it was a nice way to earn a £20,000 Great British Bonus (mainly for the lessees, but with the lessor grateful for his 20% share)!
Carrying a 6lb penalty in her next race at Catterick, 27 days later, Anythingforlove won well enough in the end but the race was not without incident. Up with the leaders most of the way, she got too close to three hurdles and on the far side of the track this lost her both momentum and the lead. At least two observers, one sitting by my side and the other who had taught the mare to jump in Ireland, thought the jockey (Gavin Sheehan again) might have been of rather more assistance in telling her when to take off.
Coming towards the straight ‘Baby’ was ridden to challenge for the lead, being asked to go on at the second last. She jumped the hurdle cleanly. but inside her one of her rivals fell, badly interfering with another; and suddenly it was a two-horse race. With a couple of cracks of the whip Anythingforlove galloped clear, jumping the last on a good stride and going on to win by 9½ lengths. The result was impressive, but some of the jumping wasn’t – particularly for a mare that had excelled in this when in pre-training.
After two Novice Hurdle wins, race conditions and penalty structure meant that options were now limited; and the attainment of Black-Type became a priority. My immediate idea was to target the Grade 2 Jane Seymour Novices Hurdle at Sandown in mid-February, since this offered a half-mile longer distance, uphill finish and the likelihood of soft ground to utilise the mare’s stamina.
The trainer felt a seven-week gap was too long between races, at which I suggested that, if Willie Mullins could pull off such a feat, then I felt confident he could. Eventually we agreed to ‘look at’ a race at Leicester in late January, but this was called off; so the plan became one of trying to steal a little Black-Type by running in a 5-runner, Listed Any-Sex novice hurdle over two miles at Haydock, purportedly offering heavy ground.
Not much went right. Anythingforlove was held up in the rear, the hope being to run on past beaten horses into a place; but her jumping was indifferent at three early hurdles, again causing her to lose momentum. She closed up to be just behind the leaders on the long run towards the straight, but was soon outpaced as the first two (the geldings Minella Drama and Fauvoir) quickened, finally plugging on one-paced to finish a well beaten fourth.
The jockey’s view was that she was out of her comfort zone from early in the race. Immediately afterwards I thought (and Jamie agreed) that Sandown might be a tall order; perhaps an easier prospect of Listed honours might be found over 3 miles at Doncaster the weekend before Cheltenham, and this became the plan. However, we agreed that an entry should be made at Sandown and we would decide what to do nearer declaration time.
The next two weeks were very wet, and the Sandown entries contained some decent mares but none I would have been terrified of before Haydock – but Haydock had been most disappointing. Jamie suggested making the declaration but pulling her out if we felt the task was too great.
The day before the race he called and we talked about Sandown vs Doncaster. Gavin was in the car with him; and he suggested that Doncaster over 3 miles might not suit her as well as Jamie and I thought – at Doncaster they tend to go off steadily but run the last mile much more quickly, whereas Sandown would offer heavy ground and the uphill climb to the line would take some getting. Doncaster offered what might be an easier opportunity but it was two and a half weeks away; Sandown had the right conditions now.
Jamie and I talked some more, and eventually I asked if the mare were spot on right now; when the answer came back ‘she’s in excellent form’, I said: “Well let’s find out how good she is then!”
I am ashamed to say this after Gavin’s helpful advice about the merits of Sandown vs Doncaster (well I’m not really, but one’s supposed to say such things), but I was quietly pleased that he would be unable to ride Anythingforlove at Sandown (he had been claimed to go to Plumpton by an owner that paid him a retainer), since I didn’t believe he and she understood each other all that well in the jumping department. Page Fuller, who had ridden ‘Baby’ very well in her first two bumpers and regularly schooled her at home, took over the ride. After her Haydock run the mare was unfancied in the betting, her odds of 18-1 being the longest of all but one of the eight runners.
Favourite for the race, at 7-4, was Little River Bay, whose dam (Penneyrose Bay) had, sixteen years previously, won the very same Newbury EBF Mares Final in which Anythingforlove’s dam had her final start when breaking down as she attempted to give 20lb to the winner. Other fancied horses were Misty Whisky, a high-class NH Flat Black Type Winner in the season Deadringerforlove was unsuccessful in that metier; Rayna’s World, third in the Cheltenham Festival Grade 2 Mares Novices Hurdle in 2020; and winners last time out in Sandymount Rose, Little Bay and Uptown Lady.
After Haydock I thought ‘Baby’ might lack the necessary speed; my hopes rose somewhat when I looked at the speed readings shown on the tv screen in the previous race, a two-mile event containing chasers of similar ratings to the mares entered in the Jane Seymour. They were struggling to do much more than 20 m.p.h. as they reached the finish; it was going to be a tough task for mares running over half a mile further.
Anythingforlove took a strong hold early on, travelling on the outside. At the very first hurdle she put in a big leap, followed by similarly impressive jumps at the second and third, as Belle de Manech made the running from Little Mo, with Uptown Lady next, Little River Bay on the inside and Sandymount Rose tracking these. Misty Whisky, whom I thought the biggest danger, was towards the rear with Rayna’s World behind.
On the far side of the track ‘Baby’ moved up to third, still jumping very cleanly; and, rounding the long bend into the straight, she and Sandymount Rose went after Belle de Manech, with Uptown Lady behind, Misty Whisky and Rayna’s World starting to close and the others beginning to struggle.
As they entered the straight with two to jump, Sandymount Rose showed just in front of ‘Baby’ on the wide outside, with Misty Whisky closing between them, as Belle de Manech faded rapidly. Of the three leaders Sandymount Rose looked to be going the best.
At the second last the three leaders were almost in line. ‘Baby’ jumped best of the three and went on; Misty Whisky made a mistake and fell behind. Coming to the last Anythingforlove took a definite lead as Sandymount Rose tried to fight back, Misty Whisky fought to regain the lost ground and Uptown Lady and Rayna’s World were driven to close from behind.
Another good jump at the last maintained both lead and momentum for Anythingforlove. All the mares were clearly tired, but ‘Baby’ kept going up the final climb, pulling gradually clear of Sandymount Rose, Misty Whisky and Rayna’s World to become a Grade 2 winner. Stamina, determination and excellent jumping had won the day – indeed, the transformation in her jumping from that of her previous two runs was remarkable.
After Sandown what had been an extremely wet winter turned into a warm, dry March and a cold, dry April, so ground conditions went from the ideal ‘soft’ or ‘heavy’ to the far-from-ideal ‘good’ or ‘good to soft’. Despite a few entries being made, that was it for the season.
The plan for the 2021/22 season, always intended to be Anythingforlove’s last before retiring to stud, was to concentrate on chasing; and Jamie Snowden, Dan Abraham and I agreed a list of potential races before the season began. Unfortunately, like ‘the best laid plans o’ mice and men’, it ‘gang aft aglay’ almost immediately, when Jamie discovered that the BHA had decided to change a significant percentage of the scheduled Mares Novice Chases to 0 to 120 handicaps, which meant that Anythingforlove couldn’t run in them. This meant that the first realistic target of the season, at Worcestor in October, involved a run on ground that was merely good-to-soft against two of the best of the previous season’s novice hurdlers, Little River Bay and Nada To Prada.
It was a disappointing experience. ‘Baby’ was held up, rather than making the running as I had anticipated; and her jumping was a little deliberate – again not what I expected. When Little River Bay and Nada To Prada kicked on with four fences to go, she was immediately tapped for speed and left several lengths behind. She attempted to rally and was a staying on third when she hit the last and stumbled badly, losing both ground and momentum, finishing a well-beaten fourth. This was not the chase debut I had anticipated, though Denis Leahy, watching in Ireland, thought it a satisfactory first outing.
The restricted number of Mares Novice Chases, combined with an unusually dry spell, meant that Anythingforlove’s next race was run on ground that was merely ‘Good’. Once more we had to face Little River Bay, along with another more highly-rated mare, Clondaw Caitlin. Given no reasonable alternative targets, the horse had to go – but, even though the race was being held little more than an hour away, at Uttoxeter, we didn’t!
For much of the race it looked as if we were wrong not to, for, although jumping to the right early on, Anythingforlove went on after the fifth last and was clear of the opposition and apparently going best after jumping the fourth last. Then, just as I was beginning to think she might win the race, it all went wrong; she hit the third-last hard and immediately Little River Bay and Clondaw Caitlin went past.
Asked to chase after them, she found nothing and gradually lost ground all the way to the line. Once more, an error made whilst jumping at speed, seemed to prove her undoing. After that, we made one simple decision: wherever she ran next, though it might be over fences or back over hurdles, the ground would have to be soft or softer!
The first such opportunity came at Ffos Las, the home of heavy ground, in a Class 3 Mares Handicap Hurdle. This was far from ideal as (1) it did not carry a GBB bonus and (2) the race was a 0-120 handicap, meaning that Anythingforlove would have to carry 12 stone 5 pounds. “We cannot run under that weight,”,Jamie Snowden assured me, and I was seeking to discuss alternatives after pulling her out of the race when the phone signal failed.
When the signal came back, I managed to talk to Jamie again, to find that he had come up with a cunning plan to address the second problem, though not the first. He had booked 7-lb claimer Archie Bellamy to school the mare the next day, before running her the day after – and 12st 5lb minus 7lb equals 11st 12lb, as Jamie’s old master at Radley would doubtless have taught him.
I was uneasy about the plan, as it involved giving weight all round over 3 miles on heavy ground for what I described as ‘Mickey Mouse (i.e. bonus-free) prize-money’ – but we had to run somewhere and the potential alternatives didn’t seem all that tempting. So we went back over hurdles, taking on three others, all (given that other trainers had come up with the same cunning plan) ridden by claimers to reduce the weight carried.
This time, though, ‘Baby’ was back on the ground she loved. She took a keen hold, tracking the favourite, Credo, then was pushed up Credo’s inside to lead four out. As her rival ran wide entering the straight, Anythingforlove went several lengths clear jumping the third last. Coming to two out, she had to be asked for more effort as the others started to close; and for a moment it looked like she might not get home.
However, after jumping the second last she kept going strongly and started to move away again. After a good leap at the last she came home 7 lengths clear of So Socksy, a mare to whom she was giving more than two stones in weight, with the favourite, Credo, back in third. After the race the BHA handicapper gave her a new highest Official Rating of 132, with the Racing Post rating her effort as worth 136.
The first race contested by Anythingforlove in the 2021/22 season that was actually part of the plan we had drawn up at the start of that season came at Sandown in early January, this being the Listed Unibet Hurdle run over what now seemed a less than ideal 2m 3½f but on the heavy ground she clearly loved. There were only five runners – but all were winners of Black-Type races.
The favourite, the Willie Mullins-trained Gauloise, had won two Listed Hurdles and been narrowly beaten in a Grade 1; the winner of that Grade 1, Sky Ace, started third-favourite; second favourite, Martello Sky, was a Listed winner that had recently defeated the high-class mare Indefatigable at Cheltenham; whilst fourth favourite Whitehotchillifili had won the race in 2021.
Anythingforlove was the outsider of five, at 16-1, and, under the curious conditions of the race she and Sky Ace, as former Grade 1 or Grade 2 winners, carried 1lb more than Gauloise and Martello Sky but 1lb less than Whitehotchillifili (the only one to have won a Black-Type race not confined to novices).
Nonetheless, she ran a great race. ‘Baby’ followed the leader, Whitehotchillifili, from the start, with Martello Sky outside her and with the other two following behind. The notable thing was that she jumped beautifully, even taking the lead briefly after a particularly spectacular leap at the fourth-last.
Beginning to round the final bend, Whitehotchillifili led Anythingforlove with the others two or more lengths behind. Entering the straight Baby was poised to challenge on Whitehotchillifili’s outside, but the three other mares then moved up rapidly on the inside. The distance advantage she had over them swiftly disappeared.
All five horses were in contention as they jumped the second last, with Anythingforlove on the outside, and Martello Sky on her inner, touching down at the same time; Skyace, in third, went slightly right and lost a little momentum. In the first few strides after they landed the race was effectively won, as Martello Sky used her superior speed to go three lengths clear, with Baby trying to stay with her, Sky Ace unable to quicken, Whitehotchillifili fading and Gauloise finding nothing.
The first two both jumped the last well and Anythingforlove gamely tried to chase down the leader up the final hill. She closed slightly, but at the line was still just under two lengths behind a 144-rated mare to whom she was giving 1lb and with a 142-rated Grade 1 winner almost five lengths behind.
It was undoubtedly her best performance; but thoughts about ‘what might have been’ had she gone into the lead rather sooner and made her speedier rival work to chase her down, are likely to remain with me forever. If someone has access to a video from a parallel universe in which that happened, I would love to see it!
However, whilst it was the best race of her life, it was Anythingforlove’s last good run. The desperate ground conditions took a lot out of all the runners, and none of them won another race during the remaining two months of the season. Chasing Grade 2 success in the Warfield Mares Hurdle two weeks after Sandown, in the hope of a further success before the ground began to dry, ‘Baby’ found the ground far too sticky and finished an eased-down last of five.
Then. seeking compensation in a Class 3 handicap hurdle at Hereford, she found similarly cloying ground and was only rhird of foue runners. These two races generated her lowest-ever Racing Post Ratings. She ran in both against my better judgement, the first because it came too soon and the second because it served no purpose other than for the Foxtrot Syndicate to see her race once more. After the race I thanked the syndicate members for the wonderful enthusiasm they had shown throuhout Baby’s career, and expressed the hope that one day we might do it again with one of her daughters – but that was the end of her racing life.
We got her back to Shade Oak a couple of weeks later and then sent her on to Ireland to begin her new role in life. Her hormones were a little unco-operative to begin with, but she soon got in the mood for love, and her breeding career began with a walk in the park.
Baby’s first baby was a colt foal born on 19th April 2023, sired by (yes, you’ve guessed it!) the outstanding NH stallion Walk In The Park, also sire of his Uncle John’s regular nemisis, Douvan. The plan was that he would be sold as a foal in Ireland for big money in November or December, and then race successfully for a top trainer.
However, Robbie Burns once came up with a very wise saying for a Scotsman, something about the ‘best-laid plans o’ mice and men’ ganging ‘aft aglay’; and if I understand that correctly then this plan certainly did. Baby’s colt didn’t grow as expected, showing a typical first-foal syndrome of remaining smallish and immature. When he was weaned we brought him home to receive special nurture; but though he was given extra food and handling and strengthened up consuderably, he remained smallish. Accordingly, Plan B, to sell him as an early yearling in January, also had to be abandoned.
By now, Dorte had become very fond of the foal, naming him ‘Ferdinand’ after some story of a little white bull or some such; and now she came up with one of her most ‘cunning plans’, This was that we should keep Ferdinand entire, race him in France as a 3YO/4YO and then stand him as a stallion when he had won a couple of Black-Type races at Auteuil.
As usual with Dorte’s plans my first instinct was to dismiss its impracticality. However, I swiftly recognised the lack of a better alternative. other than prayer – so this is now the plan. Ferdinand is with Michael Moore in Ireland, being fed extra well and given special exercise; and later this year he will be broken by Denis Leahy and commence a ‘two months on, two months off’ pre-training regime before hopefully going to France as an early 3YO to try to gain the credentials envisaged. We can but dream…
In 2024 Anythingforlove produced another colt foal. this time a chestnut with fascinating white markings by Logician. The intention is to sell him at Goffs Ireland in December. I hope it happens – we can’t afford another of Dorte’s cunning plans!
For further details of Anythingforlove’s final two siblings, click on LA PERROTINE.