Montjeu Trainer Hammond to Retire at Season's End

John Hammond will not be renewing his trainers' licence next season, calling time on a glittering 33-year career which was marked out by his victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) with Suave Dancer in 1991 and the brilliant Montjeu eight years later.  

Other big race winners included the champion sprinters Polar Falcon and Nuclear Debate in a career total of 23 top-level victories garnered from across the globe. 

Having grown up in Britain and Ireland and attended school at Rugby, Hammond worked as assistant to André Fabre and has spent his entire training career in Chantilly.

Now 59, he will continue with "two or three projects," one of which will be to work as European representative for Australian syndicate group OTI, part-owners of the Hammond-trained Haky, a candidate for honors at this year's Melbourne Spring Carnival. 

Just four years after taking out his licence Hammond produced Suave Dancer to win the Prix du Jockey Club Lancia (French Derby, G1) and the Irish Champion Stakes for owner Henri Chalhoub, rounding his season off with a two-length defeat of Magic Night in the Arc under an ultra-confident Cash Asmussen. 

"It was just at the right moment and he brings back happy memories," Hammond said of Suave Dancer Sept. 24. "His best race was the Irish Champion Stakes (G1). He was really a mile-and-a-quarter horse but he won over a mile and a half on his class, even if he was out of juice in the final furlong. Over a mile and a quarter he was a really good horse, though, and in the Irish Champion he absolutely danced away from Environment Friend."

Asmussen was a key component of Hammond's early success, as the pair teamed up for group and grade 1 wins such as the Arlington Million with Dear Doctor, the Haydock Sprint Cup on Cherokee Rose, the Prix de la Foret on Dolphin Street, and the French and (Budweiser) Irish Derby double aboard Montjeu.

"As a young trainer, it's a great help to have a good horse early on, it boosts your confidence and your career," said Hammond. "Having a really good jockey working with you when you have that good horse, who can come and ride the horse in the morning makes a difference too."

"Cash and I used to fight like cat and dog but we usually ended up coming up with a good plan which worked. And it was fun. I say we fought but we were friends and we've remained friends, he was a big help."

Montjeu was ridden in the autumn of his 3-year-old career by Coolmore's retained jockey Mick Kinane, culminating in an epic defeat of Japanese frontrunner El Condor Pasa in the 1999 Arc.

Kinane was also in the saddle the following July when Montjeu defeated Fantastic Light and Daliapour in a high-class King George at Ascot. Hammond said: "At the time you very much live in the moment with them. In the Arc, when El Condor Pasa went clear turning into the straight, I didn't think we'd beat him because I'd seen him work fantastically well before the Arc. Fortunately for us the ground was heavy and we managed to reel him in. 

"But I think the day Montjeu won the King George (VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, G1) he was really an exceptional horse. Over a mile and a half I'm not sure I've seen anything that would have beaten him that day. 

"To produce a mile and a half Derby horse, Montjeu was your man. He was a super stallion and I was blessed the day he put his first foot in the yard and it was a lot of fun."

Since Montjeu, Hammond—whose string has never numbered more than 70—has produced a steady stream of high-class performers, with Nuclear Debate landing the King's Stand (G2)-Victor Chandler Nunthorpe (G1) double in 2000 and Imperial Beauty's Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Majestic Barriere (G1) victory the highlight of a long and fruitful relationship with jockey Yutaka Take.

Hammond also produced the top-class fillies Sweet Stream and Sarah Lynx, whose Canadian International victory in 2011 was the trainer's most recent top-level success. 

Haky booked his trip down under with a fine second at ParisLongchamp this month and is in quarantine.

"He's a little way off making the cut for the Melbourne Cup (G1)," said Hammond. "He's in the Caulfield Cup (G1) and if he doesn't make the cut for that then he's in the Geelong Cup (G3). I'm going to be doing a bit of work for OTI when I stop and they own half of him. He's a tough, sound horse and I'm sure he'll do a good job for them down there. 

"I've got two or three projects and that's one of them. I'm effectively going to be their European rep but it won't take up all of my time. Terry Henderson, who runs it, has been tremendously successful in buying European middle-distance horses to race down in Australia. This year alone they have had 18 stakes winners. It's a very well run company with great integrity and that's attractive for me."