Greatest Trainers: Sir Michael Stoute

Trainer

Sir Michael Stoute

Yard location

Freemason Lodge Stables/Beech Hurst Stables, Newmarket

Trainers’ championships

1981, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009

Associated jockeys

Ryan Moore, Kieren Fallon, Gary Stevens, Walter Swinburn

Notable owners

Khalid Abdullah, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Ballymacoll Stud, Highclere Thoroughbred, the Aga Khan, Cheveley Park Stud

British and Irish Classic winners

1000 Guineas – Musical Bliss (1989), Russian Rhythm (2003)

2000 Guineas – Shadeed (1985), Doyoun (1988), Entrepreneur (1997), King’s Best (2000), Golan (2001)

Derby – Shergar (1981), Shahrastani (1986), Kris Kin (2003), North Light (2004), Workforce (2010), Desert Crown (2022)

Oaks – Fair Salinia (1978), Unite (1987)

St Leger – Conduit (2008)

Irish 1000 Guineas – Sonic Lady (1986)

Irish 2000 Guineas – Shaadi (1989)

Irish Derby – Shergar (1981), Shareef Dancer (1983), Shahrastani (1986)

Irish Oaks – Fair Salinia (1978), Colorspin (1986), Unite (1987), Melodist (dead-heat, 1988), Pure Grain (1995), Petrushka (2000)

Highest-rated horses

140 – Harbinger, Shergar

137 – Zilzal

135 – Shadeed, Shahrastani, Shareef Dancer

134 – Pilsudski

133 – Crystal Ocean, Marwell, Singspiel, Workforce

Other notable horses

Kribensis – Champion Hurdle (1990)

Kalanisi – Queen Anne Stakes (2000), Champion Stakes (2000), Breeders’ Cup Turf (2000)

Notnowcato - International Stakes (2006), Tattersalls Gold Cup (2007), Eclipse (2007)

Estimate - Ascot Gold Cup (2013)

Betting hints (Information correct prior to the 2020 Flat season)

- Sir Michael Stoute’s three-year-olds making their second start improve significantly from their debut. He has sent out very few three-year-old debut winners (just three in the last five years) but has a strike rate of 25% (44 winners from 176 runners) with three-year-olds making their second start, while their Timeform rating improves to an average of 10.39 lb.

- Over the last five years Stoute has had 50 or more runners at 19 tracks. Considering only those courses, he boasts by far the best strike rate at Doncaster (36%, 27 winners from 75 runners), posting a very healthy level-stake profit of £52.74.

Profile

Sir Michael Stoute left his native Barbados in 1964 to become assistant trainer to Pat Rohan, before training horses in his own name from 1972. He has since gone on to become one of the most successful trainers in the world, winning the champion trainers’ title in Britain on ten occasions and being the only trainer in the 20^th century to win an English classic in five successive seasons. He has also overseen the careers of some of Timeform’s highest-rated horses, most notably Harbinger and Shergar.

The 70s/80s

Sir Michael Stoute trained his first winner, Sandal, owned by his father, at Newmarket in April 1972. Fair Salinia provided him with a first classic in 1978, winning the Oaks before following up in the Irish Oaks and the Yorkshire Oaks. Prior to that, he had tasted success at the top level with Blue Cashmere in the 1974 Nunthorpe and Triple First, who won the Nassau Stakes and the Sun Chariot in 1977.

Stoute’s career really took off in the 1980s, kickstarted by Shergar, who, with a rating of 140, was one of the best in Timeform’s history. Shergar won the Derby in breathtaking fashion, and his official margin of victory – ten lengths – remains a record for the race. Shergar’s stunning performance at Epsom was the pinnacle of his career, though he went on to cement his reputation by following up in the Irish Derby and the King George, both of which he won by four lengths, before suffering an unexpected defeat in the St Leger, after which he was retired. Shergar was sent to stud but after just one season was kidnapped in February 1983. A ransom was demanded but it is thought Shergar was killed a few days later. His remains have never been found.

Stoute enjoyed notable success in the Irish classics during the 1980s, winning the Irish Derby with Shareef Dancer in 1983 and Shahrastani in 1986, the latter having already won the Derby at Epsom. He also won the Irish Oaks with Colorspin in 1986, Unite in 1987 and Melodist in 1988, as well as the Irish 1000 Guineas with Sonic Lady in 1986 and Musical Bliss in 1989. Shaadi gave him a first – and to date only – success in the Irish 2000 Guineas when successful in 1989.

Outside of the classics, Stoute continued to add top-level triumphs to his CV. Marwell (King’s Stand, 1981), Green Desert (Sprint Cup, 1986) and Ajdal (Sprint Cup & Nunthorpe, 1987) demonstrated his ability with sprinters, whilst Shardari won the International Stakes in 1986, and Zilzal took the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 1989.

Stoute had already developed a reputation for his prowess on the international stage, with victories in the Prix de l’Opera, Italian Oaks and E.P Taylor Stakes among the highlights.

The 90s

Stoute’s versatility was demonstrated in fine style by the exploits of Kribensis, who became the first horse to complete the ‘Triple Crown’ of hurdling, winning the Fighting Fifth, the Christmas Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle in the 1989/90 season, a feat matched only by Buveur d’Air some 28 years later.

Big-race success on the Flat also continued to pour in, winning the Coronation Cup with Saddler’s Hall and the Tattersalls Gold Cup with Opera House in 1992. In 1993, Opera House would go on to win the Coronation Cup, the Eclipse and the King George, while Ezzoud won the International Stakes.

Ezzoud repeated his International Stakes win in 1994, and also added the Eclipse to his CV, proving better than ever at the age of five. Soviet Line was another to thrive with time and was a six-year-old when successfully defending his Lockinge Stakes crown in 1996.

Stoute ended the decade strongly, with both Singspiel and Pilsudski developing into top-class performers. To varying degrees, both horses demonstrated Stoute’s prowess with late-maturing types. Singspiel was an admittedly very smart three-year-old, finishing second to Halling in the Eclipse, but it was at four and five that he hit his stride, winning the Japan Cup, the Dubai World Cup, the Coronation Cup and the International Stakes.

Pilsudski arguably came from more left-field, having ended his three-year-old campaign rated just 104. By the end of his four-year-old season, however, he reached a rating of 129, success in the Breeders’ Cup Turf capping a fine campaign. As a five-year-old he reached a peak Timeform rating of 134, winning the Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes, the Champion Stakes and the Japan Cup during a marvellous campaign.

The 2000s

The year 2000 was a highly profitable one for Stoute. It kicked off with Fantastic Light winning the Dubai Sheema Classic, continuing Stoute’s excellent international record with his older horses. Fantastic Light was subsequently transferred to Saeed Bin Suroor, and was beaten in the Coronation Cup on his next start by Daliapour, trained by Stoute.

In 2000 Stoute won the 2000 Guineas with King’s Best and the Irish Oaks with Petrushka, but arguably the star of the show that year was Kalanisi, who won the Queen Anne, the Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, as well as finishing a close second to Giant’s Causeway in both the Eclipse and the International Stakes.

Stoute again won the 2000 Guineas in 2001, sending out Golan to triumph, whilst Medicean demonstrated his versatility by winning the Lockinge, the Queen Anne and the International Stakes. Golan would add the King George to his CV the following year, a campaign that also saw Islington win the Nassau and the first of her Yorkshire Oaks titles. No Excuse Needed also won the Queen Anne in 2002, giving Stoute a third successive win in the race.

Stoute landed the Derby at Epsom in 2003 and 2004 with Kris Kin and North Light. Neither were outstanding Derby winners, certainly not in the mould of Shergar from the ‘80s, but both victories demonstrated Stoute’s unquestionable ability to prime his charges for the big day.

Another standout performer during this time was Russian Rhythm, who won the 1000 Guineas, the Coronation Stakes and the Nassau in 2003 and returned at four to beat the boys in the Lockinge.

Notnowcato was another classic example of Stoute’s ability to improve horses. He ended his three-year-old campaign with a handicap win off a mark of 96 before winning the Earl of Sefton, the Brigadier Gerard and the International Stakes as a four-year-old. The following year, in 2007, he improved further still, winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup and the Eclipse, under a memorable ride from Ryan Moore, who made his challenge down the stand side, away from chief rivals Authorized and George Washington.

The horse that finished the decade off with a bang was Conduit. Conduit was beaten in a handicap from a mark of 79 on his first start as a three-year-old, but he went on to win the Gordon Stakes, the St Leger and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. In 2009, he repeated his Breeders’ Cup success, and also won the King George, leading home a one-two-three for the trainer with Tartan Bearer and Ask, chasing him home. Stoute also won the trainers’ title in 2009, his most recent championship.

The 2010/20s

Two top-class colts emerged for Stoute in 2010, in the shape of Workforce and Harbinger. On just his third start, Workforce produced a memorable performance to win the Derby in supreme style, powering clear of his rivals by seven lengths in a record time.

Workforce was only fifth of six behind his older stablemate Harbinger when odds-on for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on his next start. However, in what was probably the training performance of the year, Stoute produced a rejuvenated Workforce to win the Arc at Longchamp. Workforce's victory – his trainer's first in the Arc – set him further apart from the typical Derby winner, most of whom are remembered purely and simply for their exploits at Epsom. Only six other Derby winners – Sea-Bird, Mill Reef, Lammtarra, Sinndar, Sea The Stars and Golden Horn – also won the Arc.

Remarkably, given his achievements, Workforce (133) was not even the highest-rated horse in his stable that season. That honour went to the four-year-old Harbinger, whose sublime King George performance earned him a rating of 140 and a place among a select group of outstanding horses to have reached that benchmark. Harbinger, along with Shergar, is the highest-rated horse Stoute has trained.

Harbinger's exhilarating victory was a revelation – he didn't just win, he annihilated the opposition at Ascot. He could be named the winner turning for home and cruised clear in breathtaking style, beating a top-class field by 11 lengths. Sadly, Harbinger, who never made it to the track as a two-year-old and had suffered an interrupted campaign at three, met with injury and never raced again.

Another significant success for Stoute occurred at Royal Ascot in 2013, when the Queen’s filly Estimate won the Gold Cup, giving her owner a first Group 1 win on home soil since Dunfermline won the Oaks and St Leger in 1977.

Estimate herself had provided one of the highlights of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year in 2012 when winning the Queen’s Vase at the Royal meeting, after which her sights were set on the Gold Cup, a race that had never been won in its history (it was founded in 1807) by a horse owned by the monarch.

Estimate’s trainer ranked the victory among the greatest achievements of his distinguished career. "It was a mammoth task and Estimate wasn’t entitled to be favourite – she had to up her game – and this is as high as anything I’ve done."

Stoute has an excellent record on the international stage and enjoyed back-to-back successes in the Canadian International in 2014 and 2015 courtesy of Hillstar and Cannock Chase, while he tasted further Breeders’ Cup glory with Queen’s Trust in the Filly & Mare Turf in 2016 and Expert Eye in the Mile in 2018.

Among Stoute’s standout performers in recent years have been Ulysses, winner of the Eclipse and the International Stakes in 2017, Poet’s Word, who won the King George in 2018, and Crystal Ocean, who won the Prince of Wales’s Stakes in 2019 before recording a career-high Timeform rating of 133 when narrowly denied by Enable in a pulsating King George.

Crystal Ocean was progressive as a three-year-old, winning his maiden before running well in the Dante Stakes. He missed the Derby, with connections electing to wait for the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, in which he finished a promising third. Crystal Ocean gained his first Group win in the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood before finishing second to Capri in a top-class edition of the St Leger.

Crystal Ocean didn’t manage to make the Group  1 breakthrough as a four-year-old, having to settle for second in the King George and Champion Stakes, but he progressed again at five and finally delivered the top-level success he had long promised when winning the 2019 Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

The last of Stoute's six Derby winners came along in 2022. Like Workforce, Desert Crown had raced only twice before going to Epsom, though had gone one better than that colt by winning the Dante beforehand. However, setbacks restricted Desert Crown to only one more appearance, as a four-year-old, before he succumbed to a leg injury later that season.

* Article originally published in July 2020