THE much-travelled Hunting Horn covered 82 mares in his debut season at stud, and Matt O’Connor bought a colt from that first crop for €27,000 as a foal at Goffs.
A former Ballydoyle trainee, Hunting Horn notched up three wins and a string of blacktype placings in 23 starts from his Irish base, and was repatriated from Qatar to begin his new career at stud.
Runner-up in a Galway maiden on the second of two starts at two, Hunting Horn beat the subsequent Group 1 Irish Derby winner Latrobe in a Navan maiden first time out at three and was placed in the Group 3 Classic Trial at Sandown and Group 3 Chester Vase before finishing only two and a half lengths behind Study Of Man in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby.
He was sixth in that classic, but a wide-margin winner of the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes over 10 furlongs at Royal Ascot just 18 days later. He then headed further afield for his next starts.
Hunting Horn was third to Catholic Boy in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes in New York before heading to France. There he was short-headed by Brundtland in the Group 2 Prix Niel at ParisLongchamp.
His four-year-old campaign also accumulated lots of air miles, kicking off with a third-place finish in a Grade 3 at Gulfsteam Park before running third to French King in an ultra-valuable 12-furlong listed contest at Doha. Belmont Park was his next stop and Hunting Horn was only a neck behind his stablemate Magic Wand when the pair finished third and fourth to Channel Maker in the Grade 1 Man O’ War Stakes.
Hunting Horn was fourth behind Crystal Ocean in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, and later won the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup over 12 and a half furlongs in Australia. It takes a robust horse to handle so much travel, and that toughness will be a valuable trait to pass on to his offspring.
Hunting Horn is out of Mora Bai (Indian Ridge), a half-sister to dual Derby star and leading international sire High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells), so he is closely related to that standout. He is a son of the juvenile ace and multiple classic star Camelot (Montjeu), a multiple classic sire.
Luxembourg (three Group 1s), Even So (Irish Oaks), Russian Camelot (South Australian Derby, Underwood Stakes), Athena (Belmont Oaks Invitational), Latrobe (Irish Derby), and the ill-fated pair Sir Dragonet (Cox Plate, Tancred Stakes) and Santa Barbara (Belmont Oaks Invitational, Beverly D Stakes) are among Camelot’s 11 Group or Grade 1 winners to date.
Hunting Horn is a grandson of Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells), and so represents a sire line that has made a huge impact on the National Hunt sector for some time now.
Race record
HUNTING HORN (IRE), Bay 2015. Won three races, £863,088, from 1 mile 2 furlongs to 1 mile 4½ furlongs, at 3 and 4 years including, McCafe Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Moonee Valley, Gr.2, Hampton Court Stakes, Ascot, Gr.3, also placed second in Qatar Prix Niel, Parislongchamp, Gr.2, and third in Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes, Belmont Park, Gr.1, Centennial Celebration MBNA Chester Vase, Chester, Gr.3, W L McKnight Stakes, Gulfstream Park, Gr.3, bet365 Classic Trial, Sandown Park, Gr.3, Longines H.H.The Amir’s Trophy, Al Rayyan, L.
At stud
Retired to Stud in 2021. First crop are two-year-olds.
Information
Stands at: Capital Stud, Bishopslough, Bennettsbridge, Co Kilkenny, R95 PW10, Ireland.
Contact: Ger O’Neill, Jerry Horan, Darragh McCarthy or Joe Sinnott
Telephone: +353 (0)86 3844560
Email: info@capitalstud.ie
Web: www.capitalstud.com
Fee: Private