THE news that Shade Oak Stud is to be home in 2022 to Frankel’s classic-winning Logician is a real boost to the National Hunt stallion ranks in Britain. This week Peter Hockenhull announced the acquisition from Juddmonte Farms of the Group 1 St Leger, successful in six of his nine career starts.

Hockenhull said: “The purchase of Logician is the culmination of a four-year search to bring another top-class stallion prospect to Shade Oak, one with all the qualities needed in a champion National Hunt sire. Logician ticks every box.”

One of 17 Group 1 winners by Frankel (Galileo), Logician is the best of six winners from six runners produced by the stakes-placed, three-time winner Scuffle (Daylami). A full-brother to stakes winner Collide (Frankel), he is a half-brother to the Grade 3 winner and Grade 1 runner-up Suffused (Champs Elysees).

Scuffle is herself half-sister to Cityscape (Selkirk) and Bated Breath (Dansili), and to the dam of leading sprinter Equilateral (Equiano), runner-up last year to Battaash in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Standing 16.2 hands, Hockenhull describes Logician as having “great bone, plenty of strength and substance, a lovely walk and a fantastic temperament.”

Record time

When he won the St Leger in a record time Logician beat top-class rivals such as Sir Ron Priestley, Nayef Road, Sir Dragonet and Il Paradiso. A life-threatening attack of peritonitis and pleurisy at the end of his second season led to him being off the track for a year.

Juddmonte have kept breeding rights in the horse, a vote of confidence in their homebred. The deal to bring Logician to Shade Oak was facilitated by Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock. The five-year-old retires with a record of six wins and two places from nine runs and almost £550,000 in winnings.

John Gosden, who formerly trained the outstanding National Hunt sires Flemensfirth, Presenting and Shantou, said this week: “Logician was still improving when he won the St Leger, quickening in the style of his sire. We planned a major Group 1 campaign over 10 and 12 furlongs as a four-year-old, he was that good, but unfortunately illness got in the way. He has all the ingredients to be an outstanding dual-purpose sire.”

Special horse

Juddmonte’s racing manager Barry Mahon was full of praise for the grey. He added: “From the start Logician was a special horse, a standout yearling among the Juddmonte crop that year.

“His size, strength and beautiful action, combined with good conformation, had everyone excited from an early stage and he didn’t disappoint.

“We have no doubt he was one of the very best middle-distance horses around. Being by Frankel, and given his exceptional physique and performance, Logician is a huge asset to British breeding. Shade Oak have guided many top-class stallions through their careers and I’m sure they have another top-class prospect on their hands.”

Terms for Logician will be announced at a later date.