Gordon-Watson Hopeful Poet's Word Conquers King George

By the law of averages, there will always be failures in this volatile business, where valuations can fluctuate and crash with alarming rapidity.

Saeed Suhail, however, might beg to differ. Aided by his longtime agent Charlie Gordon-Watson, Suhail came out of the 2014 Tattersalls October Sale with three additions to his string; nearly three years on and each of them—Poet's Word, Across The Stars, and Ballet Concerto—is a group winner, providing the duo with an enviable full house.

Sure, it's a small group with which to play, but those horses have earned more than £2.45 million (approximately US$3.22 million), a sum that will swell considerably July 28 if the leading light of the trio, Poet's Word, can land the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) at Ascot.

Poet's Word arrives at Ascot fresh off that memorable defeat of Cracksman in the Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1). It was a deserved group 1 success for the Poet's Voice colt following a series of creditable efforts at the top level, and it earned him a place in the same bracket as former group 1-winning Suhail color-bearers such as King's Best, Kris Kin, Cannock Chase, and Dilshaan.

"Winning the Prince of Wales's Stakes was up with the classic winners because it's the premier race at Ascot," says Gordon-Watson, "and it was what the horse deserved after all his group 1 near misses. With Cracksman the hot favorite, it was also ironic that Poet's Word originates from a Hascombe family, and that John Gosden was the underbidder on him."

The association between Suhail and Gordon-Watson goes back more than 20 years. Along the way, there has been the brilliance of King's Best as well as an Epsom Derby (G1) victory courtesy of Kris Kin. Both horses were testament to the skill of Kieren Fallon and their trainer Sir Michael Stoute, who runs Poet's Word in addition to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's Crystal Ocean as he goes in search of a record sixth King George.

"It all came about through my association with Gainsborough Stud and Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum, who Saeed was connected to," says Gordon-Watson. "Thanks to Michael Goodbody and Ben Hanbury, it all started from there. It was always the plan to find classic horses, starting with the Guineas and Derby types.

"The first good horse was Beat All, who to this day I feel was unlucky not to win the 1999 (Epsom) Derby. He was by Dynaformer—I identified the Roberto line as a possible route to finding a Derby winner, and back then there was also Silver Hawk, Kris S, and Lear Fan. A lot of the horses bought at the time for Saeed were by those stallions."

At 300,000gns ($506,394), Poet's Word was one of the more expensive yearlings sold during Book 2 of the October Sale. Even so, he was still some way down the pecking order when it came to the early sales record of his sire Poet's Voice, then an unproven stallion whose first crop sold for up to 700,000gns off a £12,000 fee.

"The Poet's Voice yearlings had sold very well in Book 1 and were solid types," he says. "Poet's Word was stabled in the Right Yard, where there is very little room to see a horse walk, but this horse moved like silk and with great authority—he had a great swagger to him. He was a good, strong color, had a good eye, and good width. He didn't need to walk very far for us to see what he could do."

Bred by Barry and Fiona Reilly of Woodcote Stud, Poet's Word was a half brother to Malabar—then a smart juvenile who would go on to win the following year's Thoroughbred Stakes (G3) at Goodwood—out of Whirly Bird, a winning Nashwan granddaughter of the influential mare Inchmurrin.

"I've never been wild about Nashwan mares, but this horse was such an exceptional individual that my bias was overtaken," says Gordon-Watson. "Also, he was being sold by very good breeders in Barry and Fiona Reilly, from whom I had recently bought Kingston Hill, and came from a strong Hascombe family.

"To pay 300,000gns was a lot at the time, but I very much believed in the horse as a physical specimen and in his pedigree. Luckily, Saeed wanted to buy one more horse and, as it was the first day of Book 2, he happened to be there and told me to find him the best horse in the sale. John Gosden was the underbidder, so that gave me encouragement, and obviously Michael liked him as well."

Thus the Poet's Voice colt was added to the 2014 intake of yearlings alongside two other colts who had been bought the previous week during Book 1.

The first, a 600,000gns ($1,013,166) Sea The Stars colt bred and sold by Anthony Oppenheimer's Hascombe and Valiant Studs, was Across The Stars, the 2016 King Edward VII Stakes (G2) winner. The second, a Dansili colt bred and sold by Meon Valley Stud, cost 300,000gns ($507,056) and turned out to be Ballet Concerto, who had a pair of group 3 wins in the Totepool Sovereign Stakes and 32red Superior Mile in the second half of last season before succumbing to a heart attack.

"Across The Stars was an exceptionally classy individual," Gordon-Watson said. "He came from a top farm in Hascombe, from whom we had also bought (grade 1 winner) Cannock Chase. He was very easy to identify, and it was a question of being able to afford him. It wasn't rocket science.

"Ballet Concerto again came from one of the best nurseries in Meon Valley Stud, with whom I've had an association for many years. They consistently sell good horses. Dansili is a very reliable sire, and he was just a straightforward horse with no issues. He turned out to be a very solid horse and was improving all the time. Had he not met his sad end, he could have been a major player in the top mile-to-10-furlong races this year."

Back in 2003, the King George was seemingly within reach for the Suhail-Stoute partnership as Kris Kin took his chance off the back of his Derby win. As it turned out, the colt was no match for his old foe Alamshar, who slammed a high-quality field for John Oxx. Connections are justified to hope that Poet's Word, with his record of consistent progression and affinity for Ascot, can provide a better outcome in this year's renewal.

"It's unusual for Saeed to buy only three yearlings in one year," says Gordon-Watson. "For all of them to win group races is an outstanding training performance by Sir Michael Stoute.

"He has been a lucky and successful owner. But then he deserves to be as he's not afraid to stick his neck out and have a real go."