EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Sir Michael Stoute looks back on his storied career and names Shergar best EVER

When Sir Michael Stoute talks racing, it is business. But it is when he talks cricket that his eyes really light up and he becomes more animated as he describes playing a star-studded line-up at the Kensington Oval in his native Barbados.

‘I have never played at Lord’s but I have played a couple of times at the Kensington Oval,’ says the man who has been champion Flat trainer in Britain 10 times.

‘I took a team to Barbados in January 1982 and we had a wonderful cricket match. Our team included [fellow trainer] Guy Harwood and one of our three games was at the Kensington Oval.

‘We had Garry Sobers, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Seymour Nurse and Peter Lashley playing for the opposition. I got eight and didn’t get a bowl. I was out LBW and I was plumb. We won but there was a stewards’ inquiry.’

Stoute’s sign-off is accompanied by a trademark guffaw before he adds: ‘I still follow cricket but there are too many of these 20-over games nowadays. I love Test cricket, I’m a fan of that and I follow a lot of sports. Thank God for the telly. But this is an all-consuming job.’

Sir Michael Stoute (R) is set to be inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame at the QIPCO Guineas

The famed trainer won the Gold Cup for the late Queen Elizabeth II with her horse Estimate but missed on on a historic Derby win

‘This’, of course, is horse racing and Stoute’s devotion to his chosen career will be honoured at this week’s Qipco Guineas meeting at Newmarket, when he is inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame.

Stoute, 77, admits he is ‘flattered and honoured’ to have the award bestowed on him and when he adds that he will be in ‘good company’ he could not be accused of exaggeration. 

The man who started training in 1972 joins legendary Irish trainer Vincent O’Brien and his old friend and rival Sir Henry Cecil as a Hall of Famer, while the four jockeys honoured since the idea was launched in 2021 — Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery, Willie Carson and Frankie Dettori — have all ridden for him. 

Piggott actually rode his first winner, Sandal, in a handicap at the 1972 Guineas meeting.

Stoute, whose passion for racing was ignited in Barbados when the family moved next to Garrison Savannah racecourse after his father, Ronald, was appointed deputy chief of police, says: ‘Vincent was the outstanding one. He did it under both codes — Flat and jumping — at the highest level. I made sure I got to know him.

‘He sent me some horses early in my career that he shared with Robert Sangster in the late Seventies. He was fascinating to talk to. He made sure there wasn’t pressure. I knew that they were the real McCoy but they were horses which won a few races.

‘Me and Henry were great competitors. It was never a bosom friendship but a respect. We enjoyed each other’s company but we were doing our own thing.’

More than 4,000 winners have been listed in Stoute’s name. Among them have been 16 British Classics, including six Derbys. 

Shergar, ridden by Walter Swinburne, won the 1981 Derby by an eye-popping 10 lengths

He has won the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes a record six times and although Aidan O’Brien will no doubt overtake him in June, his 82 Royal Ascot winners remains a record for a trainer.

His success has extended around the world with wins in the Prix De L’Arc de Triomphe, two in the Japan Cup and eight at the Breeders’ Cup in America. 

There is a lot to choose from but Stoute says Shergar, his record 10-length 1981 Derby winner, was the best middle-distance horse he has ever trained, while his jockey Walter Swinburn was the most talented jockey he has employed.

Stoute says: ‘There have been some good ones but Shergar was the best. He was a beautifully balanced horse and a good athlete but he had a great engine, simple as that.

‘Walter was absolutely the most talented jockey. He was a little bit weak in the early days but then he got as strong as a bull. He was a superb rider with lovely hands but he drove me mad at times.’

The Queen is pictured congratulating Stoute after the historic race over 40 years ago

Desert Crown won the Derby for Stoute in 2022 and is being prepared for Sandown next month

When Stoute won his sixth Derby last year with Desert Crown, he got a congratulatory phone call from the late Queen. Stoute says winning the 2013 Ascot Gold Cup for her with Estimate was one of his most memorable days, while missing out on the 2011 Derby when royal runner Carlton House finished third was one of his most frustrating.

Stoute says: ‘Estimate’s Gold Cup really did mean a lot to her. It was the race she most wanted to win at Ascot. She was a real horsewoman and so knowledgeable. 

Some people might think the things said about her were a little exaggerated but no way. The Derby didn’t go right for Carlton House. He was the best horse in the race. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t.’

Stoute says how much longer he trains will depend on owners supporting him. He does not have as many horses but he still has some gems.

His 2022 Champion Stakes winner Bay Bridge runs in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp this afternoon, Nostrum could make Royal Ascot, Circle Of Fire is being lined up for a Derby trial, while Desert Crown is being prepared to return in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown next month.

Stoute said: ‘We have taken our time and fingers crossed.’

Kitty’s Light won the bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Sandown on Saturday afternoon

Kitty’s Light became only the second horse to complete the Scottish National-Bet365 Gold Cup double with victory on the final day of the 2022-23 jumps season at Sandown.

Seven days after winning at Ayr, the Christian Williams-trained 11-4 favourite fought off Moroder to win by two-and-a-half lengths.

Hot Weld, trained by the late Ferdy Murphy, in 2007 is the only other horse to complete the double. The successes of Kitty’s Light have been a boost to the Williams family while five-year-old daughter Betsy is being treated for leukaemia.

Paul Nicholls, who was crowned champion trainer for the 14th time, won the Select Hurdle with Knappers Hill. Brian Hughes celebrated a third successive jockeys’ title.

To find out more about Sir Michael Stoute and the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, please visit horseracinghof.com.