The family
This gelding, a first foal out of the unraced Be Donn, is from a
fine National Hunt family which traces back to Grade 2 winning
chaser MacGeorge and Grade 1 winning hurdler, Grade 2 winning chaser
Chief Dan George.
Grand-dam Be Airlie was also unraced but she is a half sister to
useful, dual hurdles winner Big Chief Benny who is in training with
Alan King. Another sibling, Artoff, was acquired for £21,000 by
Scots owner Jimmy Fyffe and, after finishing second in an English
Point, has joined Keith Dalgleish.
None of the immediate distaff line have raced, but the 3rd dam Beann
Ard has bred 5 winners over jumps. Most notable are the fairly
useful hurdler, useful chaser Sword of Fate who won 6 races for Tom
Lacey before switching to Ayrshire handler Leonard Kerr.
Fair chaser Buckland Gold is another notable winner for the family
with 3 wins to his credit.
As well as the aforementioned graded chasers, 4th dam Colleen Donn
has bred a further 5 winners over jumps.
About the sire
Libertarian (bay horse born 2010) raced for just the one season at 3
years old when trained for his first 5 races by the Burke
family. Suspension meant that officially the licence was held by
Karl's
wife Elaine.
He is a big, heavy topped sort in conformation.
After winning a Pontefract maiden on debut, on his third outing
Libertarian won York's Dante Stakes over 10½ furlongs in the
style of a horse who would be suited by the Derby trip if not
Epsom's undulations.
Nevertheless in the Derby of 2013, which was contested by just 3
home trained runners in a field of 12, Libertarian ran a fine race
to finish second to Ruler of the World. Acquired by Godolphin, he
next ran unplaced in the Irish Derby, before switching to Charlie
Appleby for a tilt at the St. Leger, finishing 4th. Rated 118 by
Timeform.
Libertarian is certainly bred to stay being by a Derby winner (New
Approach) out a mare who won at 2 miles. Interestingly
he is a half brother to the smart chaser Ned Buntline.
Retired to Knockhouse Stud in Ireland in 2015, expect his progeny to
be strong, staying chasing types.
Season 2021-22 outlook
The oldest progeny of Libertarian, the sire of 'Carter', will be 5 years old in 2021.
Libertarian is very much
from a staying family, so it's not that surprising that he has had very few runners
to date as his stock will improve with age.
That is probably true of this lad as well, from the 1st
crop of the 2013 Dante winner, as he's a
stout, chasing type who is the sort to improve with time.
This gelding suffered a leg injury which required
several weeks of box rest and so didn't make the
racecourse last season. He's come back to Dodlands after
a good summer at grass though and is a regular each
morning on the gallops making up for lost time.
Unsurprisingly, he's a little backward at this stage but we hope that he sees a bumper debut come January 2022.
Previously....
Another of the purchases from the 2019 August Tattersalls Ireland NH Store Sales.
There was a strict budget in mind when Callum was asked to assist in the acquisition of an unraced gelding on behalf of a newly formed, very secretive syndicate. But this was a shrewd buy on Day 1, a strong gelding with size and scope. Like the 3 other horses bought at the sale, he was soon on his way across the Irish Sea to the Scottish Borders.
Nick Orpwood was able to take this lad fairly quickly over to this Kelso yard to complete the education process.
Thereafter, 'Carter' was paired up with fellow sales
purchase
Undecided (aka 'Tommy') and his spells in our yard,
on the gallops and out at grass mirrored that Sageburg gelding.
And we've been delighted by his progress, settling in
swiftly into stable life and soon becoming a popular
horse with the staff.
Both geldings re-joined the yard after summer 2020 in
early August - carrying plenty of condition - to start
full-time training on the road to what we all hope will
be a successful National Hunt career.
Season | win | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | other | |
2021-22 | NH Flat | |||||