Rausing hails ‘meticulous planning’ of Prescott as key to Alpinista success

Proud owner-breeder reveals she was ‘very confident’ her mare would win the Arc.

Owner-breeder Kirsten Rausing was full of praise for all who have been associated with Alpinista after the curtain came down on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner’s on-track career.

The ParisLongchamp heroine, who won 10 of her 15 starts, was expertly prepared by Sir Mark Prescott throughout her racing career and was retired following a setback in her preparations for a possible tilt at the Japan Cup.

That ended her quest for a seventh Group or Grade One success and a ninth straight victory, and she will now head to Rausing’s Lanwades Stud in Newmarket where she will embark on the next stage of her life as a broodmare.

“It’s not completely the end, but the end of her racing career and I’m so absolutely thrilled, delighted and very grateful for all that has achieved,” said Rausing, who was honoured at the Cartier Awards on Wednesday night when she received the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.

“That is all thanks to Sir Mark’s wonderful training and Luke Morris’ fantastic riding – Sir Mark’s meticulous planning and his great expert horsemanship was the route of all this success.

“And indeed, I am grateful to Annabel Willis who has looked after Alpinista since she arrived at Heath House and to my own team who have looked after her as a yearling and even for 11 months before her birth really, it has been a great team effort and I’m very fortunate to work with such exceptional horsemen.

“I’m so grateful we have achieved all that she has done. I would assume she will be world champion older mare, I can’t quite see anything rated higher than her, so it is a pity we didn’t go to Japan but I’m more than happy to settle for what she has achieved so far.”

Having been unbeaten since April of 2021, Alpinista’s finest hour came at Longchamp last month in Europe’s richest middle-distance contest.

Reflecting on that first Sunday in October, the owner/breeder revealed she defied her usual pessimism to have full confidence in her star mare coming out on top in the French capital.

“Well, it was a very strange day, and it took a little while to sink in,” continued Rausing.

“I was actually very confident that she would win, and I’m not known to be of an optimistic nature – I like to think of myself as a realist, but many of my friends would feel I border on pessimist.

“I surprised myself that I was very confident she would win. Since she won the Yorkshire Oaks beating Tuesday I was 100 per cent certain she would win the Arc and indeed the market thought so too as she started favourite.”

It was Alpinista's victory over Tuesday here at York that convinced Kirsten Rousing her star mare would win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
It was Alpinista’s victory over Tuesday here at York that convinced Kirsten Rausing her star mare would win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Mike Egerton/PA)

And she believes that confidence was shared by Alpinista’s trainer, the legendary master of Heath House.

“I tell you it wasn’t that difficult at all, he likes to play to the gallery a bit about that,” added Rausing on Prescott’s pre-race assertions that it took some arm twisting from the owner to convince him to cross the Channel.

“I’ve won seven Group Ones in Germany and he has won six in Germany, and we’ve never attended any of them. But I broke my duck with Alpinista when she won the Yorkshire Oaks, so I knew there wasn’t a hoodoo, and we could both go to Paris.”

Connections of Alpinista following her Arc triumph
Connections of Alpinista following her Arc triumph (Ashley Iveson/PA)

The Swedish philanthropist has owned many champions and also bred many Group One and Classic winners over the years including the likes of Irish Derby and Ascot Gold Cup winner Fame And Glory and this year’s St Leger champion Eldar Eldarov.

Alpinista’s achievements rightly stand equal among some of the great horses she has been associated with.

“She’s certainly up there among the very best,” Rausing added.

“Her great aunt Alborada was twice winner of the Champion Stakes and indeed a world champion herself, she was obviously a wonderful mare and the first one for me in my own colours and trained by Sir Mark of course. Then there is Alborada’s own sister Albanova who is in the third dam of Alpinista – she was a triple Group One winner herself in Germany and a great champion. So we have had some nice animals.

“Alpinista has been marvellous, and she represents so much work, time and patience that has gone into her and her decedents as well, because they’ve been with me for five generations. And it is not just my own work but that of my team here at Lanwades and at St Simon and indeed at Staffordstown in County Meath where my animals spend their yearling days.”

Now attentions turn to Alpinista’s breeding career – but just as with her racing career, patience will be the order of the day.

“It takes time,” Rausing continued. “Her first offspring if all goes well will be a two-year-old of 2026 and a three-year-old of 2027, but these things take time and I’ve been at it a long time, so I’ve learned patience is key.”

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