DRIVING past Ballydoyle was always treated with pilgrimage-like fervour when my father was at the wheel.

Sometimes we stopped, just to peer through the railings and trees, this young mind imagining he was seeing Alleged, Golden Fleece, El Gran Senor, Sadler’s Wells or any of the other superstars under the care of Vincent O’Brien in this mystical land.

On one occasion, for a change, John P stopped off at the church in Rosegreen.

It had been renovated thanks to the generosity of Mr. O’Brien and his primary backers.

There was a plaque inside the door to mark that patronage and while somewhere between 35 and 40 years on, the writer is unable to recall all the names, the exotic sounding Robert Sangster, Danny Schwartz and Stavros Niarchos stood out.

HISTORY

Niarchos was a Greek shipping magnate who initially got involved in racing in the 1950s, putting a number of horses in training with Gordon Richards.

There was a lull in the following decade but the famous two-tone blue colours returned with a bang in the ‘70s. Soon, he went into partnership with O’Brien, John Magnier, Sangster and Schwartz and they enjoyed astounding success

Irish Derby winner Law Society (1985) was among those to win in his own livery but he had a share in a plethora of other Ballydoyle greats, including the legendary sire Sadler’s Wells.

Niarchos was enthralled with the game and established his own expansive breeding operation, buying farms with their own rich traditions in Normandy (Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard) and Lexington (Oak Tree Farm).

Thankfully for racing, the next generation have remained just as enthusiastic about the racehorse. The lines are maintained – equine and human.

Alpha Centauri is the latest example, as is the regular presence of Maria Niarchos-Gouazé in the winner’s enclosure along with her niece Elektra, the youngest of Philip’s four children.

LA CONCIERGE

In conversation with Alan Cooper, the Niarchos family’s racing manager since 1987, it is notable how often the name of Miesque comes up.

Her influence is all-pervasive and it is notable how much she has in common with her great-granddaughter Alpha Centauri, such as the tendency to take a deep interest in all that is going on around her. It earned Miesque the nickname ‘La Concierge’ in François Boutin’s yard.

A daughter of Niarchos’ French champion Nureyev, Miesque won 10 Group/Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile twice – the first of those in Cooper’s first year at the helm.

She pulverised a strong field then and repeated the trick 12 months later.

Miesque’s influence continued as a champion broodmare. Her son Kingmambo, by Mr Prospector, was a French classic winner who bagged three Group 1s before becoming a noted sire and sire of sires. Henrythenavigator, Dubai Destination, King’s Best, El Conor Pasa and Lemon Drop Kid are just some of his progeny to do the business on and off the track.

East Of The Moon arrived as a result of a liaison with Private Account. She too was a triple Group 1 victor, the Prix de Diane among them.

As is customary, she joined the broodmare band upon retirement and produced Alpha Lupi, by Rahy. Alpha Lupi never raced but her pedigree ensured she had a future in the shed.

Alpha Centauri is Alpha Lupi’s most gifted offspring by far. The strapping Mastercraftsman filly has garnered four Group 1 prizes to date, starting with the Irish 1000 Guineas in May before getting out the passport to plunder the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Falmouth in Newmarket and the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, all in emphatic fashion.

VERSATILITY

Next up is the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday and it’s all systems go after a season that has exceeded expectations.

“It would be difficult to say it has gone as expected in that Jessie always thought we had a very nice filly, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted after her seasonal reappearance at Leopardstown that we were going to be winning to date, four Group 1s in three different countries,” Cooper notes reasonably.

“It would be too boastful to say that’s what we were expecting to do. What a tribute the filly is to Jessie and all the team at Commonstown, and to (jockey) Colm (O’Donoghue) as well.”

They knew the heavy ground in April was completely unsuitable but the race did serve to bring Alpha Centauri on considerably.

The following month, she was sending out all the right signals and has gone from strength to strength since winning the Guineas at the Curragh.

“She stood out as a foal – I’ve been looking back through my notes and on the May the first, 2015 (when Alpha Centauri was two months old), we thought she might be the best foal of the mare. She made good steady progress and we liked her from an early stage.

“I guess what was amazing was that her weight when she came into training was 523 kilos. Jessie was so amazed that she had her weighed four times in case somebody had made a mistake, but that was her true weight.

“I suppose the fact that she was precocious at two showed that she had grown into herself to a certain extent. I think Jessie was brilliant in backing off her after (the Albany at) Ascot, when Different League beat her. We ran her once again in the Moyglare, when things didn’t really go right and instead of going back to the well we all agreed to put her away, give her time to strengthen up and that’s what’s happened.”

The Falmouth showcased Alpha Centauri’s versatility, as O’Donoghue took up the running for the first time and blew the field away.

It seems that there is little any prospective opposition can do tactically to upset her as she does not have one style of racing that must be adhered to in order to be successful.

“I must say, when Colm told us in the paddock at Newmarket ‘I think, looking at it, we may have to make the running’, I said to myself ‘Good Lord, this is going to be a new thing’ and it was a new thing but it was absolutely not a bother on her at all.

My main concern in that race was that she was watching the camera on the road riding along beside her. She’d never seen that before.

She likes to look around and take everything on board, which is what Miesque used to like to do.”

SPECIAL

Cooper reports that the three-year-old does not need to be worked hard to maintain fitness, despite her size, describing her as “a special individual.” It is a characteristic that is conducive to longevity and to racing at four, just as Miesque did so successfully.

That is very likely too, with her stature suggesting that more improvement is unlikely.

Mind you, that is within the context of the Flaxman Stables’ tendency to make short term plans and reassess after each race.

So it is with a likely trip to the Breeders’ Cup, where the Niarchos family have enjoyed phenomenal accomplishment, and 30 years after Miesque secured two-in-a-row, a tilt at the Mile, which they have won six times in total.

“Traditionally, we do everything race by race. As you know, the owners have a special relationship with the Breeders’ Cup and we’ve been to Breeders’ Cups many times, so if it’s the right thing to do, if the filly tells Jessie that she’s still in form, then she’ll go to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

“But it is race by race so let’s see if all goes well in Matron and she stays in form, as she’s been on the go since early in the year.

“The plan is to be at Churchill Downs where the ground is traditionally fast or good at Breeders’ Cup time because they’ve got a very special drainage system there.”

Crucially, Alpha Centauri possesses an even temperament and “didn’t turn a hair” when travelling by plane to France, or embarking on two lengthy road journeys to Ascot and Newmarket.

So the trans-Atlantic journey is not a concern.

PATHFORK

The connection with Harrington goes back to the purchase of Flaxman-bred Pathfork by Ben McElroy.

Once the colt won the National Stakes, the decision was taken to send horses to Commonstown.

“Jessie is an amazing horseperson, from her riding days, and her judging days at shows. She has an incredible knowledge of a horse and an instinctive intuition for where to go and what to do. She’s a great person to work with because it’s all logically straightforward. As we know, a horse can take you to the lowest level of racing to the highest level of racing but Jessie knows how to place them very well.”

MIXED EMOTIONS

The Matron Stakes holds mixed memories for the Niarchos crew, after Duntle lost the 2012 race on a stewards’ inquiry, having finished first past the post.

Two years later, Fiesolana got them on the role of honour at the inaugural Irish Champions Weekend.

Cooper had purchased the filly at the end of her three-year-old campaign and the decision was taken to run her one more year, much to the relief of trainer Willie McCreery, who along with rider Billy Lee, celebrated his first Group 1 triumph that September 2014.

“The family like to have a look and see if different bloodlines and different performances could suit the broodmare band. Fiesolana came into that and Willie McCreery kindly agreed to take her back and we’ve built up a good relationship with Willie.”

Liquid Amber is another McCreery-trained filly for which there were high hopes this season. She has failed to fire in two runs this year, after attaining Group 3 success as a juvenile, but Cooper has positive news on that front.

“She hasn’t been absolutely sparkling and I think we’ve found a reason why and all being well she’ll be back in form before long. I was talking to Willie about her this morning (Monday) actually and she’s giving a good buck and a kick. She wasn’t feeling absolutely right in her itself and it’s taken a bit of time to pinpoint it. We think we have and knock on wood, she’s getting back on form. She’s only just started back so we’ll feel our way.”

Of course Alpha Centauri’s success comes hot on the heels of that enjoyed by another homebred, Ulysses (his dam Light Shift won the Oaks at Epsom), who flourished last year as a four-year-old, claiming the Eclipse and the Juddmonte International before going on to stand at Cheveley Park Stud this year.

“He’s very fertile. From Cheveley Park’s point of view he was easy to manage as a stallion. He got good support overall and now we’re looking forward to seeing his foals next year. We sent him about 11 mares ourselves.”

As the wheel keeps turning, the lines continue to thrive.

“That’s essentially what being an owner/breeder is about. It’s a privilege to work with the families from generation to generation.”

PEDIGREE

Of course Cooper has a significant pedigree himself. His father, Tom was the founder of BBA Ireland and the first European agent to buy in Keeneland in 1959, while his mother, Valerie was a top-class showjumper, who competed at Madison Square Gardens.

Valerie owned the high-class National Hunt mare Opera Hat, who won 15 times while trained by the late brother of the aforementioned Harrington, John Fowler. From Opera Hat, she bred Woodland Opera, who is an eight-time winner to date under Harrington’s guidance.

Cooper’s brother Patrick is a hugely respected bloodstock agent and director of BBA Ireland, while sister Diana has been working with Darley since 1993 and runs Godolphin’s charitable programme.

“As soon as I could walk I was taken to the races,” says Cooper.

“There was a stage I did dream about training and after working on a farm in France I went to Buenos Aires to meet a trainer who’d agreed to take me on. He had one look at me and said ‘I don’t need you.’ I think I was too tall and too heavy!”

After some time working on stud farms, he began life at Goffs before moving to Park Street, the location of Niarchos HQ in London, in 1984 to act as assistant to racing manager Philip Payne-Gallwey. When Payne-Gallwey returned to BBA three years later, the then 29-year-old took over the reins.

FORTUNATE

Miesque marked his debut season memorably and Alpha Centauri commemorated his 60th birthday in May with classic glory.

He considers himself fortunate to be exposed to the complete experience, from breeding to racing and back to breeding, and particularly, watching how the likes of celebrated trainers Harrington, Pascal Bary, Aidan O’Brien, Henry Cecil, Michael Stoute and Jonathan Pease, among others, operate.

“It’s a great privilege to be part of a big team. It brought me to places all around the world and we let the horses do the talking.”

MEMORIES

“I’ve got fabulous memories of being involved in running in a lot of the best races in the northern hemisphere... It would be difficult to pick out one as the outstanding memory. One was Freddie Head’s ride in the Jacques Le Marois on Hector Protector.

“He wasn’t a winner a stride before the post or the stride after but he was the winner on the line. That I remember, was absolutely amazing but I’ve been privileged to be around a lot of good horses.”

NEXT GENERATION

“It’s so important, that the longevity of horses hopefully spills over from generation to generation. It’s not always evident but Mr Niarchos created a racing dynasty and luckily his children and his granddaughter Elektra in particular are very keen.”

IRISH CHAMPION STAKES

“Study Of Man was a bit rusty on his comeback race at Deauville, in mid-August (after winning the Prix du Jockey Club on just his fourth run) but he’s thrived since then. The decision will be made by Pascal Bary and Stephan Pasquier what they feel we should do but at the moment he’d be on course for the Irish Champion Stakes.

“He would be a good ground horse but he has won on heavy so I don’t think that will be an issue. It’s just if we feel he’ll be mature enough in his mind to take on the older generation before the Arc or not.”

MIESQUE

“Someone told me there are 36 or 37 individual blacktype winners descending from Miesque directly. It’s amazing.”