HOWARD Wright was one of the most respected journalists in racing, and his recent death was quickly followed by a decision to name a press room at Doncaster in his honour. Few will ever have such an honour accorded, and it is richly deserved.

The dedication took place on St Leger day, while the Group 2 Doncaster Cup also bore his name. I will certainly feel his loss when I attend the 58th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities at Saint-Cloud racecourse on the day after the Arc, as for many years Howard and I sat side by side. The reason why I mention him now is that I am taking the liberty of quoting from one of the very last pieces he wrote, for The Owner Breeder magazine, and these relate to the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes winner, Economics.

The piece was written by Howard after the three-year-old son of Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) won the TBA Breeder of the Month award in May.

This was following the colt’s victory in the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes at York, an appropriate success as the colt was bred in the region at Copgrove Hall Stud, managed by Limerick man Brian O’Rourke. His six-length trouncing of the €2 million yearling Ancient Wisdom, following a maiden success on his three-year-old debut a month earlier, announced Economics’ arrival as a potential star.

Three months later, Economics reappeared in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville and led home a British-trained 1-2-3, beating the Group 3 Royal Ascot winner Jayarebe and listed winner Almaqam, with André Fabre’s Bright Picture, winner of the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam, back in fourth. This catapulted him further up the ratings, and Economics was sent off favourite over six-time Group 1 winner Auguste Rodin at Leopardstown.

Wonderful history

Copgrove Hall has a wonderful history, being founded by Vaguely Noble’s breeder Lionel Holliday in 1939. However, it was brought back to life by Yorkshireman Guy Reed after he purchased the property and 50 acres of land 30 years later. The previous year Reed purchased his foundation mare, the winning four-year-old Ardneaskan (Right Royal V), at the Tattersalls December Sales for 4,000gns, carrying her first foal, Warpath (Sovereign Path).

Three of Warpath’s four victories were in listed races, and he ran third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, then a Group 2 race. He later enjoyed moderate success as a stallion, and was followed two years later by Dakota (Stupendous). That colt won seven times, his most prestigious success coming in the Group 3 St Simon Stakes. He also won the Listed Ebor Handicap and the Listed King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot. Ardneaskan is the fourth dam of Economics.

Howard Wright spoke with Brian O’Rourke, who said: “Guy Reed would have been so proud. Not only did he breed and race the female side of the family, but Peintre Celebre [Nureyev], the sire of Economics’ dam La Pomme D’Amour, was raised on the stud for the Wildenstein family. Guy won decent races at York, such as the Nunthorpe with La Cucaracha and the Ebor with Dakota, but this would have been extra special to him.”

Patience needed

La Pomme D’Amour, trained by André Fabre, won the Group 2 Prix de Pomone for the second time, her fifth success in a 16-race career, just a month after Guy Reed’s death in 2013. Retired to the paddocks, La Pomme D’Amour needed patience on the part of the Reed family, but that has finally reaped its reward.

O’Rourke said: “From her first six foals she had just one winner, and that was in a Newcastle bumper. She’d been mated largely with Northern Dancer horses, so we thought we’d send her to Night Of Thunder, a son of Dubawi, whom we could afford at the time, and along came the colt who grew into Economics. He was a cracking foal, a big, strong boy, but maybe lacked a step. We had to sell him as a foal to keep the business’s cash flow going, and he was bought by a very shrewd man, Adrian O’Brien of Hazelwood Bloodstock, for 42,000gns, and he turned him over as a yearling for 160,000gns.” Jake Warren selected Economics at the yearling sale.

La Pomme D’Amour is now the dam of three winners, her daughter La Pome De La Rose (Charm Spirit) winning four times at the age of three last year in Slovakia. The bumper winner mentioned by O’Rourke is Susie Mac (Dawn Approach), and she was runner-up on both her starts in bumpers at four, and won on her third and final outing a year and a half later, at the age of six. Her first produce is a yearling colt by Soldier Of Fortune (Galileo).

Stradivarius

La Pomme D’Amour’s next foal after Economics died, and then a Nathaniel (Galileo) colt foal was sold last year for 19,000gns to Midland Equine. She was rested last year but is now safely in foal to Stradivarius (Sea The Stars). That sire stands at the National Stud in Newmarket, which O’Rourke ran from 2008 to 2017.

Guy Reed had no children and everything to do with the stud has been put into a trust for 20 years, his nephews Clive and John Reed overseeing this. Brian O’Rourke was brought on board to make Copgrove Hall commercial, and he has built 60 new boxes, and attracted clients such as Jim and Fitri Hay, James and Anita Wigan, David and Vimy Aykroyd, and Yulong Investments.

Night Of Thunder is now the sire of four Group 1 winners, a quartet that includes the champion sprint filly and four-time top-level winner Highfield Princess, Queensland Derby hero Kukeracha, and the Pretty Polly Stakes winner Thundering Nights. The Kildangan Stud-based stallion, who stood for €100,000 this season, is having a memorable year on the track, responsible for an impressive 15 individual blacktype scorers to date.

Unbeaten run

Last weekend, Night Of Thunder’s two-year-old daughter Desert Flower extended her unbeaten run to three with victory in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes for Godolphin. This was days after his three-year-old son, another Godolphin runner Ombudsman, maintained his perfect record as he made it four from four when he won the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange at ParisLongchamp, his second stakes win.

Night Of Thunder, a juvenile stakes winner who won a vintage edition of the Group 1 2000 Guineas before going on to add the Group 1 Lockinge, is certainly proving his worth at stud, and the years ahead look bright. Economics is from a crop that were conceived at a fee of €25,000. The following two years he stood for €75,000, rising to his current six-figure fee in 2023. The quality of mares he received will have improved with his higher stud fees.

Economics is the latest star runner added to the list of Group 1 scorers out of mares by Peintre Celebre. The champion of his generation in Europe following wins in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby and Grand Prix de Paris, Peintre Celebre’s daughters have now produced 20 winners at Group 1 level, being especially successful in Germany. This global list includes Villa Marina (Le Havre), Vadamos (Monsun), Protectionist (Monsun), and Talent (New Approach).