Northgate Lodge Stables

A fine feat of talent-spotting from the bottom ranks of the sport worth bringing into the spotlight

I really hate the term ‘guilty pleasures’. Why should anyone feel ashamed of what they enjoy, as long as it doesn’t hurt others and complies with the laws of the land?

Having said that, I can see why some people don’t shout about their questionable proclivities from the rooftops, such as a fellow bloodstock writer who likes nothing more than salacious gossip, smutty memes and serial killer documentaries.

I must admit I do have what might be called a ‘guilty pleasure’ of my own (yes, just the one), and that’s low-grade all-weather racing. All the informative maidens and classy conditions races are important and always worth watching, of course, but what I most love is a Class 5 or Class 6 handicap full of exposed horses.

I’m well aware that it’s the infinite variety of Britain and Ireland’s turf courses that is the principal appeal of racing in the two countries, and that plating races run on artificial surfaces in the middle of winter are purely betting shop fodder, but I can’t help being drawn into trying to work out what will win a 0-70 at Newcastle.

The all-weather sideshow actually has one significant selling point that the main attraction on turf from spring to autumn often lacks: the chance to see familiar faces compete on a regular basis over multiple seasons. La Estrella and Stand Guard became folk heroes for winning 55 races on artificial surfaces between them, while never receiving an official rating in the 90s.

There are also some really admirable human achievements at the base of the racing pyramid, and one of the finest practitioners of the all-weather scene in the winter is Antony Brittain.

He hasn’t sent out a black-type winner since he took over from his late father Mel at Northgate Lodge Stables near York a decade ago, but his family’s maroon and yellow check silks and their newer grey and yellow colours are a fixture of meetings at Newcastle, Southwell and Wolverhampton at this time of year.

Brittain’s runners tend to win only in their turn, but win they do and they are nice little earners. The stable’s prize-money haul each year since 2019 has been £221,069, £255,957, £312,830, £233,723, £219,777, £198,916 and £157,852 and counting, and that’s with ammunition that was generally sourced inexpensively.

Indeed, the Brittain team’s sharp eye for a cheap cast-off, one who can be improved and withstand plenty of racing, is worth bringing to the attention of racing purists who don’t follow the action on the all-weather over the winter.

Mondammej, Northgate Lodge Stables’ highest earner in recent years having won seven races on artificial surfaces and three on turf including the ultra-competitive Be Friendly Handicap at Haydock, was bought as an unraced three-year-old from the Shadwell draft at a Tattersalls horses-in-training sale in August 2020, as the world was opening up again after Covid, for the princely sum of 4,000gns.

Mondammej was a brave purchase. He was undeniably well-bred, being a Lope De Vega half-brother to that year’s Weatherbys Super Sprint third Soldierpoy and from the family of Dream Ahead and Fairyland, and he cost 325,000gns as a yearling, so must have been a looker: but it might have been assumed that there was a good reason he hadn’t made a start for Roger Varian, and the stark words ‘makes a noise’ stamped on his page were a disconcerting clue as to why.

Never mind, as Mondammej bolted up in a Newcastle novice stakes at odds of 33-1 on his debut less than three months later. He hasn’t won since January but has been knocking on the door on his last two starts, although he can be a rogue, such as when he refused to leave the parade ring at Newcastle last Thursday. His time should come again soon.

Asadjumeirah, who has won six races for Brittain and could make it seven at Newcastle this evening, was another Shadwell cull. The Adaay half-brother to Queen Mary Stakes and Flying Childers Stakes winner Heartache won two races for Owen Burrows at two and three before getting stuck on a mark of around 80, prompting an entry in the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale of 2021.

Another who was ‘heard to make a noise’ according to the catalogue, he was bought by David McGreavy for Northgate Lodge Stables for a mere 10,000gns.

Brittain seems to target Shadwell drafts. His other stalwarts who were bought for a song from the operation were Abnaa, a son of Dark Angel who cost 8,000gns and won seven races for the stable; Daafr, a son of Invincible Spirit who cost 20,000gns and won eight races; Eldeyaar, a son of Slade Power who cost 10,000gns and has won six races; Mutabaahy, a son of Oasis Dream who cost 7,000gns and won ten races; Qaaraat, a son of Acclamation who cost 28,000gns and won six races; and Yaahobby, a son of Kodiac who cost 17,000gns and has won five races.

Northgate Lodge Stables does cast its net wider too, though. Spartan Fighter, a son of Dutch Art who has won nine races for the outfit and takes on Asadjumeirah at Newcastle tonight, was bought for 12,000gns from Clipper Logistics, for whom he was a smart two-year-old; Bellagio Man, a son of Dandy Man who has won six times, was purchased for 20,000gns from Ger Lyons, for whom he won a Gowran Park maiden; and Dark Kestrel, a son of Dark Angel who has won three races and also appears at Newcastle this evening, was sourced for 22,000gns from John and Thady Gosden, for whom he took a Doncaster novice stakes at three.

Without Compromise is another Brittain special. A Frankel full-brother to St James’s Palace Stakes hero and Group 1 sire Without Parole, no less, he was originally bought by Godolphin for 1,300,000gns but didn’t have an outing carrying the royal blue silks, and was bought by Northgate Lodge Stables for just 22,000gns at the Tattersalls July Sale last year. He has finally got the hang of things and has won two of his last three starts at Newcastle off a lowly mark.

One of Brittain’s more recent acquisitions who is working out well is Blinky, who won a Leicester novice stakes for Ed Waker and was bought at this year’s Tattersalls February Sale for 14,000gns. The three-year-old Mehmas half-brother to classy sprinter White Lavender has won two more races for his new trainer, including one a little over a fortnight after his appearance in the ring. He looks to have some improvement in him based on his recent placed efforts.

Brittain looks to have done it again with another purchase from the Tattersalls February Sale in January. Montezin, a beautifully bred three-year-old by Wootton Bassett out of the Listed-placed Dansili mare Palmyre, was acquired for 16,000gns from Godolphin, who bought him as a yearling for €320,000 but didn’t manage to get him to the track. He won a six-furlong maiden at Newcastle in good fashion on Monday, on his third start for his new connections after two second-place finishes last month.

It’s all rather impressive, in its own way. Brittain and his talent scouts probably wouldn’t proclaim themselves geniuses for plucking well-bred and/or once-useful horses from the bottom end of a sale and getting them to win inferior races, but I say they deserve recognition for making the best of the material they have to work with, and brightening the winter with old friends who race again and again.

In truth, enjoying all those bottom-tier races throughout the winter shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure at all.

They provide an important market for horses who have not proved quite good enough for bigger stables and give hobby owners and smaller trainers a chance to taste success, even if it isn’t all that financially rewarding.