Almeric will look to follow in the footsteps of one of the greats of renowned owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing when he competes in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot later this month.
The exciting colt, trained by Andrew Balding, was quoted for this season’s Classics after impressing at Newmarket in the Feilden Stakes earlier this spring.
Connections had to remain patient when a setback kept the son of Study Of Man off the track all summer, but he had a timely reminder of his top potential on his recent return to Ayr’s Doonside Cup.
With successive Listed prizes secured, he has earned the chance to repeat the exploits of his grandmother Alborada, who carried Rausing’s colors to successive Champion Stakes wins in 1998 and 1999, when the Group One film was staged on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket.
Rausing said: “The plan is to compete in the Champion Stakes. He had a little setback in the spring, Andrew Balding did a fantastic job of bringing him back and he had a long-term plan involving the Doonside Cup and he has succeeded.
“Everything went according to plan there and we’re hoping for another good performance at Ascot. You’d be very happy if he was placed at Ascot and that’s the plan for this year, one more race and that would be it.”
“Hopefully he will come back at four o’clock if he is healthy. That would be the plan, but as we know with horses it always goes step by step.”
More commonly associated with racing her Lanwades Stud-bred mares, Almeric is a rare colt who sports Rausing’s famous white and green hoops on the racecourse, with his success on track a testament to her continued successful Newmarket operation.
Rausing added: “He is a good horse and we have always known that. He is also a very good advertisement for the production of older mares as his mother was 20 when she had him.
“It was another reason why I didn’t put him up for sale because I knew people can be picky about that. I can’t afford to have too many stallions in training and normally I have to sell the stallions to pay for the fillies.”
“He is an exciting horse to have and he is also my home-bred sixth generation and there are several Lanwades stallions in his pedigree.”
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