Hear the full interview
From 27:26 in Wednesday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
King George and Coronation Cup winner Hukum is coming home. The Shadwell-owned son of Sea The Stars, who has stood in Japan since his retirement, has been bought by Jayne McGivern and will join her Derby and Arc hero Golden Horn at Overbury Stud.
“I could not be more delighted,” McGivern told Nick Luck. “I have been on the lookout ever since the day I bought Golden Horn, to be honest, and there are very few horses of that sort of quality that come along on the market.”
There is a neat twist to the deal. McGivern was the underbidder when Westover was sold, “and yet here I am buying the horse that beat Westover,” she said, a reference to Hukum’s victory in the 2023 King George at Ascot.
“Here I am buying the horse that beat Westover.”
Jayne McGivern
Sidelined in Japan
Both horses went to Japan at roughly the same time, but McGivern explained that their situations were very different. Westover was bought by Japanese interests, while Shadwell kept Hukum and stood him there.
“There are some very strong players in that game, and they have a lot of the stallions and also a lot of the mares, and clearly they protect their own interests,” she said. “I think Hukum was a bit on the sidelines as a non-Japanese-owned stallion and was really not used very much. So Shadwell took the decision to bring him back, we made an offer for him, and they then decided that they’d like to stay in, which was also great news. It shows how strongly they feel about him as a stallion prospect.”
Open to all
McGivern pointed to Hukum’s looks and pedigree. A full brother to Baaeed, who is making his own way as a sire for Shadwell, he was “a terrific racehorse” and is “stunning to look at”. Like Golden Horn, he will be available to breeders of both codes.
“I’m not going to pigeonhole him on either code,” she said. “I think, rather like Golden Horn, he’s going to get pretty speedy jumping horses, but also some terrific flat horses. He’s one of the best Sea The Stars sons in Europe. There’s absolute quality there, and there is absolutely no reason why you can’t produce fantastic flat horses. So we’re delighted to accept everybody.”
The Racing Post’s Lee Mottershead, speaking on the show, hoped flat breeders would take note. “I just hope that flat breeders really look at Hukum and think, this is a horse that we want to send our mares to,” he said.
Nick Luck added that Hukum’s arrival strengthens a growing group of top middle-distance horses now standing in Britain, alongside Golden Horn, Stradivarius, Cracksman, Postponed and Jack Hobbs.
