Luke Morris is well known for being one of the hardest-working members of the weighing-room but the Group 1-winning jockey has also been busily expanding his knowledge of other facets of the racing industry.With his partner Molly Nash-Steer, Morris became a breeder in the aftermath of Alpinista's victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and he is currently combining his responsibilities as Sir Mark Prescott's stable jockey with preparinging foals for the forthcoming December Sale at Tattersalls.“I was always engrossed and wanted to be a jockey from the age of six or seven. I was a racing fanatic and it evolved from following them as racehorses to developing an interest in the bloodstock side,” he explains over a cup of tea at the couple's property just outside Newmarket. It's a quick cuppa, as Morris must be on the road to the evening meeting some 250 miles north at Newcastle in half an hour. He has already ridden work for Sir Mark this morning before returning to help walk the foals.Nash-Steer adds, “He's mucked out and has been poo-picking as well.”She isn't exactly idle either. As well as having two mares and two foals at home, she also has two hunters and, even more importantly, the couple's two small children, Henry and Violet, to look after.The foals heading to the sale in a fortnight's time are both colts, one by Study Of Man out of the stakes-producing mare Clara Luna (Muhtathir), and the other by Soldier's Call from a hugely successful family which Morris has come to know well through his riding days.“I'm probably a bit boring and don't have too many hobbies, so I love studying pedigrees and I always said to myself that if I rode a Group 1 winner that I would buy a mare,” he says. “You soon realise that winning one or two Abbayes or a few Group 1s in Germany doesn't quite cut it to buy a commercial mare, but then Alpinista winning the Arc provided the opportunity to buy a mare that would hopefully be commercial. “After we bought Clara Luna, we then added to her with a mare of Miss Rausing's, Alinstante, so we're up to two now, but you soon find out the harsh reality of being a small breeder and how tough it is in this landscape.”Morris has rare inside knowledge of Alinstante, a 12-year-old Archipenko half-sister to the Listed winner Allada (Sea The Moon) who hails from a different branch of Kirsten Rausing's Alruccaba family to Alpinista. He rode her in seven of her nine races, and was victorious on three of those occasions. “I was attracted to her as she's from the 'AL' family, which has been hugely influential in my career,” he notes. “We had her at Sir Mark's and she won three of her first four races, so she was precocious and she got to a rating of 91, but she had quite a bad injury in a Group 3 in France so I felt she was a black-type filly that never really had a chance to achieve it. At the time we had her unraced Study Of Man two-year-old at Sir Mark's called Immediate Effect and I thought he was pretty good, so there were a few things that I liked about her. “We were on holiday when she was going through the sale and when we landed I went straight to Newcastle and was bidding on the online platform for her. Immediate Effect went on to be rated 89 and was a multiple winner, so it's been great.” Morris and Nash Steer mid-foal prep | Emma Berry Morris adds of Alinstante's Soldier's Call foal, “He's bred on a similar cross to that which produced Bradsell – an Archipenko mare to a son of Showcasing – and he's a good-walking colt, so fingers crossed he can wash his face at least.”The unraced Clara Luna was bought from Arqana in 2022 on Morris's behalf by Joseph Burke when carrying to Sea The Moon. Her latest offering is by Study Of Man and Morris admits to their bloodstock interests being “Lanwades heavy”.He says, “I've been with Sir Mark for 13 or 14 years and obviously have ridden numerous winners for Miss Rausing. I get to see a lot of the Study Of Man horses, so I know their traits and I think he's a very underrated stallion that's hopefully still on the up. Kalpana has obviously highlighted his talents and we were delighted to be able to to use him for Clara Luna.”Morris and Nash-Steer say that they are grateful for guidance given in their fledgling breeding pursuits by the Swinburn family at Genesis Green Stud, where the mares are foaled, and by Sophie Buckley of Culworth Grounds and Polly Bonnor of Saracen Horse Feeds.“We spoke to a few people and we sold our first foal we bred through Sophie Buckley, so she gave us a few pointers on the prep, and everyone, including our farrier and vet, has been so helpful,” says Nash-Steer. “We've gradually stepped up the foals' prep and they are hand-walking now for 30 minutes. They've both been very straightforward and we try and keep up a particular routine where they'll walk around the paddock a couple of days, then around the lunge pen and on the road, so they're very much ready for any environment . Hopefully that will set them up ready for the sales.”At Tattersalls, the foals will be under the care of Chloe Battam of Consign Ltd.“Chloe is actually Violet's godmother so we thought we'd send them to the girls to consign for us,” Nash Steer adds.They have just one foal on the way for next year, with Alinstante currently carrying to Shaquille.” I wanted to try a little bit of speed on the pedigree and when we went to see him we were blown away by how much of a good-looking horse he is,” says Morris, who adds that he finds having the mares and foals a good way to “de-stress away from racing”.“Most people probably think I'm mad wanting to have horses at home and ride thousands of them every year but we love it, and it's a great upbringing for the children.”Morris, who is currently just shy of riding a century of winners in Britain in 2025 – a benchmark he has passed in 13 previous years – returned to the happy hunting ground of Germany on Saturday for one last spin with another Heath House stalwart, Tiffany (Farhh), in the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern, a race he won four years ago aboard Alpinista. Tiffany, who was second in the race as she was last year, also has a date at the Tattersalls December Sales.“Sir Mark's been wonderful at finding these races for these these well-bred fillies,” he says. ” Tiffany has been a great filly for Elite Racing and for Heath House and it's her last run before the Sceptre Sale.”And for Morris, no matter how big the occasion, the day job is far easier than his sideline. “The sales make me far more nervous than race-riding,” he admits. “To a degree you are in control of your own fate when you're riding but with this there is no telling what will happen, and with the foals we feel a bit like they're our children.” The post ‘I Said if I Rode a Group 1 Winner I Would Buy a Mare’: Luke Morris on the Delights of Breeding and Foal Prep appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.