Subjectivist to stand at Alne Park Stud

PA Sport Reporters
November 8, 2023 2:19 pm

The Johnston-trained Gold Cup winner was retired during the summer.

Gold Cup hero Subjectivist will stand at the Skelton family’s Alne Park Stud next year.

The six-year-old was a brilliant winner of the Royal Ascot showpiece in 2021, adding to his previous big-race victories in the Prix Royal-Oak and Dubai Gold Cup.

A career-threatening tendon injury sidelined Subjectivist for the best part of two years following his Gold Cup heroics, but he did finish an honourable third in his bid for a second victory in the two-and-a-half-mile contest this summer before being retired.

He will now be readied for a stallion career in Warwickshire in 2024 with a stud fee of GBP 4,000.

Alne Park Stud director Grace Skelton, wife of leading National Hunt trainer Dan, said: “The addition of Subjectivist to our stallion roster is a huge leap forward for Alne Park Stud. To stand a stallion of this calibre is an immense honour.

“He will stand at an introductory fee of GBP 4,000. We firmly believe that keeping this exceptional stallion in the UK is a real boost to British breeders and we hope that he will see plenty of support in his debut season.”

Subjectivist was initially trained by Mark Johnston, before his son Charlie took over the licence, and he added: “I always say that, when placing horses, the opposition trumps all other factors. But, very rarely, you come across a horse where the opposition isn’t a factor at all. Subjectivist was such a horse.

“In 2021, I truly believed that there wasn’t a horse in the world that could beat him at two miles or more, in any ground.

“There is less and less need for British NH (National Hunt) breeders to travel to Ireland and, with the incentives on offer in the UK, perhaps the Irish breeders will be thinking of coming over here!”