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| Staff Writer |
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The fine-featured Madeleine Lloyd Webber has an inescapable presence. Known for her beautifully bred, Group winning horses, and stunning stud farms, and even earlier for her equestrianism there is little she has not been able to do. Having captured a rapt audience at each sale with quality drafts from Watership Down Stud and Kiltinan Castle Stud, Lloyd Webber has enhanced her offering by going into partnership with Darley with their stallion Too Darn Hot.
But how has she reached the pinnacle of her aspirations and achieved what she set out to do? The Royal Woman of Racing shares it isn’t so.
Ahead of the twenty fifth anniversary of the Dubai World Cup, Madeleine Lloyd Webber tells Ten Furlongs about her aspirations, her association with HH Shiekh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and little known antics of one of the most beloved and respected mares in the world.
Q: You have bred some of the most sought-after Thoroughbreds in the world. What inspires you and how do you differentiate between your methods and those of your contemporaries?
A: We have been very lucky to have bred some fantastic horses over the past 25 years one of the great things about breeding racehorses is there are no hard and fast rules, at Watership Down we have always tried to keep things simple and stick to a team and routine that works for us.
Q: As a woman equestrian and now a woman leader in a male dominated Thoroughbred industry, have you ever had to deal with gender bias?
A: I never think about it, when I competed professionally, we always did so equally with the men one of the very sports that did so.
Q: What is your ambition for your breeding operation and yourself over the next ten years? What races do you aspire for your horses to win over the next decade?
A: When we set out to start Watership Down stud we intended to create a brood mare band of up to 10 of the best possible mares, at the moment we have eight that would meet the criteria we set out at the beginning. I would hope in the next 10 years that we can add to that without letting the quality slip.
Also, we have the incredibly exciting new angle to the stud in our stallion Too Darn Hot who stands at Dallam Hall stud. We are delighted to be in partnership with His Highness Sheikh Mohammad and it would be wonderful if Too Darn Hot could establish himself as a top sire.
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Q: Which horse is your favourite among all the horses you have bred thus far and why? What do you remember of that horse when he was young?
A: Dar Re Mi. When we bought her dam Darara we could never have imagined the impact she would have on the stud, we were initially unlucky that she did not have a filly for us until she was well into her twenties. Dar Re Mi was very leggy when she was young and her stable name was Spider. Not only was she an incredible race mare, winning three Group One’s she gave us one of our greatest race wins when winning the Dubai Sheema Classic on World Cup night. As a broodmare she is already the dam of Too Darn Hot as well as Group One performing full sisters So Mi Dar and Lah Ti Dar, she has a 3YO Dubawi filly named Daelectable You in training with John Gosden as well as a two-year-old full sister and a yearling full brother she is in foal to Kingman and is due to Visit Lope De Vega this year
Q: Which yearling sales do you attend and typically how many horses do you buy annually?
A: I go to Tattersalls 1 and 2 but try and get to as many as possible, I love the sales whether we are buying or selling.
Q: Who was the most exciting racing personality have you met in your career? Please tell us more.
A: Michael Dickinson, just a genuine genius as a horseman/jockey/trainer/ businessman.
He walks around with lots of pieces of paper in his top pocket with lyrics written on them from Andrew’s shows just in case he bumps into Andrew so that he can ask about the meaning and origin! Andrew was delighted to answer his questions most of which he had never been asked before.