Every racehorse owner or breeder involved in the game for long enough will have been dealt their share of bad luck. For Oliver McDowell, misfortune came in the form of a career-ending injury to a promising Singspiel filly he raced in partnership with his son Damien, who had won and been placed three times as a two-year-old.
Annabelle Ja was her name and the talent she was prevented from fully showing on the racecourse herself has been amply demonstrated through her first foal, Libranno, winner of the G2 July Stakes at Newmarket. Libranno has also, of course, benefited by being a first-crop son of Darley's French-based stallion Librettist (pictured), himself a highly talented performer in the country where he now stands, having won the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.
"After the accident, Annabelle Ja had several operations and the vets did a marvellous job with her so I decided I'd keep her to breed from. Though I'd owned racehorses for many years, I hadn't ever been involved with breeding and I thought maybe I was too old to start," says Oliver, a retired London locksmith, whose horses compete in the name McDowell Racing, a syndicate which includes family members.
"I've 15 grandchildren. Annabelle Ja was named after the first three: Arianna, Isabelle and James. I bought her for my son who was working in the City and wanted to have some fun with a few friends.
"I fell in love with her at the breeze-up. She was consigned by Willie Browne and I didn't think I'd have much chance of getting her but in the end David Elsworth bid for me and we got her for 18,000gns."
Annabelle Ja is now a permanent boarder at Brook Stud, run by Dwayne and Wendyll Woods and based just outside Newmarket, in Cheveley.
"I knew Wendyll when he was an apprentice with Guy Harwood and Dwayne has been a good advisor," says the breeder. "We were looking for a first-season stallion. We thought that Librettist, having been a Champion miler in France, would give us something nice but it's beyond my dreams what we've ended up with in Libranno."
Racing has been a major part of Oliver's life. Born in Ireland, he started work as an apprentice with Derby-winning trainer Joe Lawson in Newmarket in 1952. His father was also a keen racing fan and his uncle Jack McDowell owned the 1947 Grand National winner Caughoo, whose colours are now sported on the rugby shirts of Suttonians RFC, based at the JJ McDowell memorial Ground in Dublin.
"I've raced a few good horses in the past, including Miss Silca Key, whom I owned with Eddie Aldridge and who won the Jersey Stakes in 1984. But this one is extra special as I bred him myself," says Oliver, who now lives in Essex.
"I'd seen him cantering round the paddock at the stud when he was younger and the way he carries himself I knew he could win. He's such a beautiful mover.
"The idea was for me to have sold him as I have a Shirocco yearling from the mare coming through. He went to the sales but I wasn't going to let him go for peanuts. Wendyll was delighted I kept him and kept telling me he'd be a smashing two-year-old, but to win such a big race at the home of horseracing is just amazing."
Annabelle Ja's yearling filly by Shirocco will certainly attract much attention when she heads to Tattersalls for Book 1 of the October Sale, though again Oliver says she will only be sold "if the price is right". Next in line is a colt foal by Tiger Hill, who has been nicknamed 'Little Tiger' due to his lively nature.
Oliver, who is looking forward to his first trip to Glorious Goodwood to watch Libranno run in the G2 Richmond Stakes, adds: "At this moment in time I owe it all to Darley. They are all by Darley stallions and I'm over the moon that we have one of Singspiel's daughters. Next year I hope to send Annabelle Ja back to Librettist."
