Peter Brant has owned and/or bred some of the finest horses to have graced racetracks for nearly 50 years - he has been involved in Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners, Arc winners and Breeders’ Cup winners - but don’t think for one second that he is entirely comfortable with the direction the industry has been taking in recent years.
Especially the breeding industry. “I am not a fan of breeding to 200 or more mares each year,” he says. “I think between 100 and 150 should be the maximum.
“I do believe in the value of a good stallion. So, if you manage his time better, he will not only live longer, but as well be more valuable long-term. It’s equally why I am against stallions covering mares in both the northern and southern hemispheres in the same year.
“Continually breeding very large numbers of mares to a select band of top-priced stallions is also negative - it’s at the expense of smaller breeders, which is not good in the long term for the bloodstock industry.”
Neither is Brant a fan of the growing trend to breed more precocious sprinting-types.
“If you want quick returns, you go into the jewellery business,” he says. “When you’re in racing and want to do well, like good wine, you need to be patient and take your time. It’s the classic distance stakes races you should be trying to aim for, looking to purchase racehorses that have both the speed and stamina in their pedigree. To do that, you need to be checking out horses bred to possibly get at least 1600-2000 metres.”
That is one of the reasons why Brant is attracted to French racing. “I like the way French horses are trained, not being over-exerted, and they seem to breed horses that have both stamina and a turn of foot.”
Indeed, last month the American paper mill industrialist, magazine publisher, art collector and one-time high-level polo player was involved in two high-profile purchases of French-bred fillies at Arqana’s December Breeding stock sale - G1 Prix de l’Opera winner Rougir (a daughter of Territories), who went for a record €3 million to Brant in partnership with Coolmore, and the now 5-year-old multiple listed winner Speak Of The Devil (by Wootton Bassett), for whom he paid €1.95 million.
Considering that many Coolmore stallions regularly have huge books of mares, it is perhaps ironic that the 74-year-old takes issue with such policies, which are common among other large operations too. Yet Brant, who is world-ranked 13 with his White Birch Farm in the TRC owners’ standings, admits, “I like working with Coolmore very much.”
Indeed, the White Birch-owned Arc and Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass stands at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.
“I enjoy both breeding and racing horses, but it has to be run as a business and it’s necessary to balance the books, which means selling a half-stake in stallions like Sottsass if the price is right and culling the herd through selling less in the good years than in the bad,” he said.
“I like very much working with Coolmore both in the States and Europe and have sent 14 mares to Sottsass to be covered.”
Astute purchases
Brant’s Thoroughbred racing experience began in the 1970s, and he enjoyed considerable success, owning Eclipse Award champions Just A Game and Gulch and breeding 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, who was owned by Coolmore’s Michael Tabor. He also bred G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Torrential.
Brant then spent two decades out of racing, concentrating on playing polo, but returned six years ago - “I only returned to racing after I became too old to compete”, he says. He made a mark pretty soon with the astute purchase of the then 3-year-old G3 winner Sistercharlie in 2017.
The filly was sent to current world #2 trainer Chad Brown in America and proceeded to win seven G1s, including the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, over the next three seasons. She won the Eclipse Award as Champion Female Turf Horse in 2018.
Sistercharlie clearly has a place particularly close to Brant’s heart. “Sottsass winning both the Prix du Jockey Club and Arc for me was also a great feeling, but Sistercharlie’s overall consistent performances at top level were something special, a true champion,” he says.
Indeed, Sistercharlie made such an impression on Brant even before she headed to the US that he paid €340,000 at the 2017 Arqana August yearling sales for a half-brother to her - they were both out of the Galileo mare Starlet’s Sister. And that youngster turned out to be Sottsass.
“My policy after racing European-bred turf horses like Sistercharlie in the States is to send them back to Europe for breeding purposes when they go to stud as I find it works out better. This season Sistercharlie will be covered by Dubawi.”
“Both fillies are now with Chad Brown at Payson Park training centre in Florida - about a 30-minute drive from Palm Beach, which has a full mile racetrack,” says Brant. “I have learnt that transferring racehorses from Europe to the States has long-term benefit if you give them a few months’ rest for them to acclimatise to their new environment before racing them. It’s not the case when you just bring a horse over from Europe for a few days just to race and then return.”
Just three days after Rougir went through the ring, her former trainer, Cedric Rossi, was one of a number of people being interrogated by the police over race-fixing and doping.
Beneficial Florida climate
“We took drug tests straight away on Rougir and they showed up negative,” said Brant. “I am against doping of any sort. It gives racing a bad name, is not fair on the turfistes who wager on the sport and needs to be severely punished when it occurs to deter others from trying.”
Brant bought Payson Park in 2019 and has since upgraded the training facilities there. “I have always liked the place for wintering my young horses, with the beneficial climate, which helps their development,” he said. “Chad Brown has his horses stabled here for the winter, moving them back to his Belmont yard for the June meeting and Saratoga in July/August.”
The Brown-trained Salimah (El Kaheir), a filly Brant bought for 180,000gns at the Tattersalls October 2020 sales in Newmarket, showed the benefit of winter training in Florida when an easy 5-length winner of a maiden special weight race for 3-year-old fillies at Tampa on January 22 under Samy Camacho.
Brant is not in a hurry to run his two new purchases. “I don't expect either Rougir or Speak Of The Devil to have a run before May, and Rougir will be kept to 1800m-2000m [9-10f], and probably be entered for a New York handicap at Belmont in June.”