The DBS January Sale in 2003 was a low-key event and we were only there to try to sell the 13-year-old Hiltonstown Lass, whose uterine problems rendered her a dubious future breeding prospect. What better idea, then, than to replace a 13YO mare of uncertain fertility with a 14YO of similar characteristics? This is what we did when we bought the barren Rose Alto for 1,200 guineas.
What attracted me to Rose Alto was her racing record, for she had won six races including two valuable handicaps, as well as placing in a Listed event, for earnings of over £90,000. Timeform rated her 98. Her first foal, Musician, had been of similar quality, also placing in a Listed race, so Rose seemed to offer a combination of proven racing and breeding ability for a modest price.
In appearance, Rose was a big, lengthy mare with a quality head and good limbs, though rather dipped in the back by this stage. Her pedigree was almost a ‘museum piece’, little influenced by the wave of American horses that came to dominate European breeding in the seventies and eighties. The only American-bred amongst her immediate ancestors was Silly Season in the third generation of her pedigree.
Immediately after her purchase we took Richard Kent’s advice and sent her to his vet to undergo a ‘Pouret Operation’, to improve her vulval conformation and so increase the likelihood of her getting in foal. She was then covered by Richard’s stallion, Wizard King, a tough, consistent seven-furlong horse who suited her on conformation. The result should have been a decent, hard-knocking Flat miler.
Instead, the produce was a weak, unimpressive colt that from his earliest days was an inveterate wind-sucker. No piece of fencing within reach was safe from his attentions. When he was sold as a yearling, we were lucky to get 800 guineas for him. The unlucky party in the purchase was the buyer, for Wysall Wizard turned out to be a singularly useless racehorse, beating only one of 32 opponents in two bumpers as a 3-year-old, beaten by a total of over 187 lengths and even trying to run out in the second one.
The one horse he beat, Anchor Watch, must be a contender for the title of ‘Worst Racehorse Ever’, for he failed to finish within 30 lengths of any of his opponents in three races. Nonetheless, ‘The Man Who Bred Wysall Wizard’ is not a description by which I would wish to be remembered.
One of the better things about Rose economically was that for us she bred only colts. After being barren to Sir Harry Lewis in her second year, she produced a bay colt by Midnight Legend, the best stallion we sent her to. He was scopey and stood over plenty of ground, but upright in the shoulder and so not a great walker. He brought €7,500 as a three-year-old. Named Greenhall Lad, he won a Point-to-Point in Ireland as a six-year-old and placed three times, but he failed to reach a place in two Points in England.
After being rested for a year, Rose Alto produced a colt by Grape Tree Road at the age of 20, a chestnut with a lovely personality. Sadly he developed severe ulcers as a foal and couldn’t be saved. Her final foal was born a year later, a well-balanced dark bay by Fair Mix, who brought 2,500 guineas as a foal and €6,800 when reoffered as a three-year old. Named Master Dennis, he ran promisingly in his first bumper as a four-year old but was reported by the Racing Post as ‘racing awkwardly in the last three furlongs’. It turned out that he had torn off a suspensory ligament along with a piece of cannon bone, and he had to be put down.
Rose Alto was a tough, sound mare, regularly the ‘herd leader’ and one who loved to live outdoors, even in winter. Unfortunately, she was unable to pass on her own toughness or ability to any of the foals she bred for us, although only one of her visits was to a top sire. She died in October 2012.