It is soon 60 years since Elkær Stutteri made their entrance into Danish racing. And it has produced many well-deserved big wins for the dedicated couple Ingermarie Due Nielsen and Thorkild Møller Nielsen. But also great disappointments. In recent years they have shelved the breeding operation and now focus instead on buying very well-bred horses.
WHY ELKÆR STUTTERI?
In 1967 Ingermarie Due Nielsen acquired her first racehorse. Two years later she met her husband, Thorkild Møller Nielsen.
For almost 60 years they have now been very active owners and breeders, and together they have enjoyed life with racehorses, their great hobby.
RaceTime has interviewed Ingermarie Due Nielsen and Thorkild Møller Nielsen, whose horses have been bred and have raced under the name Elkær Stutteri. The name comes from the farm they bought.
”Yes, it was originally called Elkær after the area in Malling, but in 1855 it was divided in two. The neighbour called his part Elkjærgård, and we therefore chose to call our part Elkær Stutteri”, they explained.
RUSH OVERSHADOWS THEM ALL.
”Our first mare was Sound Of Music, who was born in 1966. She was a quite ordinary mare whose granddam won the Danish Oaks”, Ingermarie and Thorkild said.
”She was covered by Andros, whom we had bought together with Jørgen Fogh Rasmussen at Skovlygård Stutteri”.
”There was doubt about how good Andros would be as a stallion, but we were fortunate that her first foal was Rush, whom we kept ourselves and sent into training with Franz Nutz.
Elkær Stutteri quickly had success with Rush, who in 1975 won the Dansk Avlsløb and later, as a 2-year-old, the Danish Criterium, where she beat the later dual Derby winner Long John in pouring rain.
”Our first – and greatest experience”, Ingermarie and Thorkild noted.
The following year Rush won the Mowerinaløb and the Danish Oaks.
”And we had a new and very big experience when Rush won the Svenskt Oaks by 10 lengths, back when there was still a turf track at Jägersro”.
Sound Of Music also became the dam of Xavier (Caliban), who in Stald Byggett’s colours in 1982 was second in the Svenskt Derby to the super mare Humbug (Jimmy Reppin) and second in the Danish St. Leger to that year’s Danish Derby winner, Mac Ewen (Royalty).
”It was not only as a racehorse that Rush had success. She did so in the breeding shed as well”, Ingermarie and Thorkild emphasised”.
”Many of the top horses that we have bred and owned are descended from her”.
Skutte (Caliban), who was sold to Hans Adielsson, was the highest handicapped in both her 2-year-old and 3-year-old seasons. She won the Swedish Vinterfavorit as well as the Svenskt St. Leger.
ST. LEGER WINNER LIBERTY BECAME THE DAM OF SEVERAL TOP HORSES.
”And Rush became, among other things, the granddam of Liberty (Kris – Empress, ed.), who in 2001 won the Danish St. Leger commandingly with Kim Andersen in the saddle”.
It was Søren Jensen who trained Liberty, and later in her racing career she won both the Fawzia Stakes and the Sceptre Stakes.
In the breeding shed Liberty became the dam of three top horses, Condor, High Flyer and Imagine. All bred and owned by Elkær Stutteri and great-grandchildren of Rush.
”Condor (Kendor) suffered a fracture of the shin bone”, Ingermarie and Thorkild reported, but he nevertheless raced for as many as six seasons, and he reached a maximum handicap of 89.
His biggest win came in Kapplöpningsellskabets Stora Pris at Täby in 2012, where he was ridden by a young Oliver Wilson, who that year became not only champion apprentice at Klampenborg but also the most successful jockey.
”RACES SHOULD BE DECIDED ON THE RACECOURSE AND NOT IN A COURTROOM”.
High Flyer (Linamix) has gone down in the history of Klampenborg Racecourse as one of the main characters in the Danish Derby drama of 2010.
High Flyer, who did not start racing until he was a 3-year-old, came to the Derby as the unbeaten winner of two races over the distance at Klampenborg. And he was favourite to win the Danish Derby.
It was, however, Sir Henry who passed the post first, but he was demoted for interfering with High Flyer shortly before the line, where Nicolaj Stott reacted by easing High Flyer slightly.
Sir Henry was therefore demoted to third place, and Diamool (Mamool), who had passed High Flyer when he was eased, was declared the Derby winner and High Flyer promoted to second place.
That did not end the matter, which was not finally settled until almost two years later by the district court, which dismissed the case, so that the original result stood.
”We believe we had the best horse on the day – the subsequent results show that clearly”, pointed out Ingermarie and Thorkild, who are in no doubt that High Flyer would have won if the race could have been run again.
But for them the case was also about the whole course of events surrounding the disqualification.
”After the racecourse stewards on their own initiative demoted the winner on Derby day, Dansk Galop shortly afterwards broke their own rules by allowing an appeal case”.
”All in all, much of what went on around that case was beneath criticism”, believe Ingermarie and Thorkild, who at the time remained passive in the case itself and chose not to take part in the public debate.
After the Danish Derby High Flyer continued in good form.
It became a win in the Skandinavisk Mesterskap for 3-Åringer and a third place in the Norsk Derby, which that year was won by Go Go Gadget, the sire of this year’s Danish Derby winner Grab The Moment.
Later that year High Flyer won the Svenskt St. Leger, and it became two St. Leger wins that year for Elkær Stutteri, as Somerville (Mark Of Esteem – Singita, ed.) won the Danish St. Leger.
”Unfortunately High Flyer had to end his career far too early. He got a twisted gut and had to be put down”, Ingermarie and Thorkild noted.
High Flyer was the result of a long-term effort. Elkær Stutteri’s own breeding just like his dam Liberty, and a great-grandchild of Rush.
The Singspiel daughter Imagine was yet another top horse out of Liberty. She showed high class over the longer distances, and she reached a maximum handicap of 85 and earned more than half a million kroner.
Her best-paid win came in the Stostayern at Täby in 2013.
LIBERTY’S YOUNGER SISTER COULD DO IT TOO.
Matchmaker ensured continued success for Elkær Stutteri on the racecourse and in the breeding shed. Matchmaker (Funambule) was out of Empress and thus a half-sister to Liberty.
In 2004 she won the Larch Ærespræmie, and the following year she was second in the Dansk Breeders’ Cup behind the outstanding mare Funny Legend, unbeaten at Klampenborg, who like Matchmaker was by Funambule.
In the breeding shed Matchmaker became the dam of, among others, Marlborough (Mastercraftsman), and with him Elkær Stutteri were close to a Derby win once again.
It did not become a win as a 2-year-old, but Marlborough showed his ability when he was second in the Vinterfavoriternes Ærespræmie behind Suspicious Mind (Appel Au Maitre).
As a 3-year-old Marlborough won the Derbytesten at Klampenborg, and he attracted considerable interest ahead of the Danish Derby and was among the favourites, but he had to settle for second place – again behind the fantastic Suspicious Mind.
”But there is no shame in being beaten by a better horse in a fair race”, Ingemarie and Thorkild emphasised.
Unfortunately Marlborough had only a short career.
HOPES OF DERBY WINS WITH SINGITA AND ZARZUELA.
Several times Elkær Stutteri have turned up with one of the very biggest favourites for the Danish Derby. As described in 2010 with High Flyer and in 2016 with Marlborough.
But already in 2003 the unbeaten Singita was among the favourites to win the Danish Derby, and so was her daughter Zarzuela in the Danish Derby in 2013.
Singita (Diaghlyphard – Candlelight), who was in training with Søren Jensen, did not begin her career until she was a 3-year-old, and it became three wins before the Danish Derby, among them a totally commanding eight-length win in the Jydsk Derby in 2003.
That made her the favourite for the Danish Derby, where she was ridden by Kim Andersen, but Singita had to settle for fourth place.
”In the straight Singita thought she was to go round once more and ducked in towards the rails 50 metres before the line. That perhaps cost her a Derby win”, explained Ingermarie and Thorkild.
The surprise Halfsong won the Danish Derby, and she later showed high class with, among other things, a win in the Scandinavian Open (Gr.3).
Singita was a little disappointing later on, but she did win the Fyensløbet in 2005. In the breeding shed Singita became the dam of Somerville (Mark Of Esteem) and Zarzuela (Singspiel).
Somerville, who was in training with Birgitte Nielsen, won the Danish St. Leger in 2010, as mentioned earlier, ahead of the Derby runner-up Diamool and the Derby third High Flyer.
Somerville’s best performance in a career that did not end until he was 12 years old. By then he had won 14 races, among them four steeplechases, and earned almost one million kroner.
Zarzuela is yet another mare that Ingermarie Due Nielsen and Thorkild Møller Nielsen can look back on with great pleasure.
She was by Darley’s Dubai World Cup winner (Gr.1) and top sire Singspiel.
After a commanding win in the Derby Trial Stakes Zarzuela was second favourite for the Danish Derby 2013, but she disappointed and came home far behind the winner and favourite, Stall Trick Or Treat’s Quite A Mission (Eishin Dunkirk).
”One of the reasons why Zarzuela disappointed in the Danish Derby was that the horse in front of her fell in the first bend, which badly hampered Zarzuela, and she never really got into the race after that”, they explained.
As is well known, Stall Trick Or Treat also own last year’s Derby winner Grab The Moment (Go Go Gadget).
Zarzuela did well later on.
In 2014 she won the Sceptre Stakes at Klampenborg, and in 2016 she was second in the Lanwades Stud Stakes (L) at Bro Park.
In the breeding shed Zarzuela has become the dam of, among others, Precious (Gleneagles), who was second in the Danish Oaks and in 2023 won the Fyensløbet, which her granddam Singita had won eighteen years earlier.
A NEW APPROACH TO RACING.
From the mid-1990s Elkær Stutteri ceased to be a commercial breeder.
”We became ‘home breeders’ instead and covered 2-3 mares abroad every other year, as we did not wish to travel with a foal at foot. This of course limited the number of horses we had running at the tracks”
”And our breeding was more or less shut down around 2012-13, when our horses suddenly fell ill from a form of poisoning while staying at the stud”, explained Ingermarie and Thorkild.
”We could not find the actual cause, and the illness showed itself in our horses drinking far too much water over the 24 hours, and the horses’ endocrine gland system being affected.”
”In that period we lost Matchmaker, who suffered convulsions and had to be put down. And Singita, who at the age of 12 and heavily in foal had to be put down because of a twisted gut. Last but not least Liberty became barren at 13 and had no more foals”.
”It was a terrible time. Either we had to stop altogether or try a new approach to racing. Fortunately we chose to invest in two imports, which gave us the lift that brought us back into the sport”.
BUYING WELL-BRED IMPORTS.
The first purchase was the Group 3 winner, the Charm Spirit son Kick On, who after consultation with trainer Niels Petersen and Edgar Byrne, who have both assisted Ingermarie and Thorkild a great deal, was bought out of John Gosden’s stable from Qatar Racing.
And it was to prove a great success. In 2020 Kick On was Scandinavia’s best miler.
”Yes”, Ingermarie and Thorkild emphasised. ”And when Kick On won Stockholms Stora Pris (Gr.3) that year, it was our first Group race win”.
Later that year Kick On won the Swedish Open Mile (L), Marit Sveaas Minneløp (Gr.3) and Arnfinn Lunds Minneløp (L), the last two races at Øvrevoll, and Kick On was quite deservedly named Horse of the Year 2020 in Norway.
Kick On repeated his wins in the Swedish Open Mile and in Arnfinn Lunds Minneløp (L) in both 2021 and 2023.
Kick On ran 15 times in Scandinavia, and he won eight of them, and he reached a maximum handicap of 95.
In April 2021 Elkær Stutteri acquired the 5-year-old Bated Breath son Could Be King, who that same year had already run three times at Meydan in Dubai, with a fourth place in the Dubai Sprint (L) among the results.
That race was won this year by Great Wish (Night Of Thunder).
”Could Be King became a true sprint king in Scandinavia, and he ended his career with a general handicap of 93”, Ingermarie and Thorkild said.
It became three Listed wins in 2022. Could Be King won the Bro Park Vårsprint, the Giant Sandman Polar Cup at Øvrevoll and the Bro Park Sprint Championship.
Could Be King won the Zawawi Cup at Klampenborg twice, in 2021 and 2022, and Norsk Jockeyklubs Sprintløb twice, likewise in 2021 and 2022.
THE DREAM OF DUBAI.
With Kick On and Could Be King Ingermarie and Thorkild at the same time had their wish of having a horse running in Dubai fulfilled.
It has not produced wins in Dubai, and perhaps it never will, but as Ingermarie and Thorkild say:
”Running a horse at Meydan is an experience in itself”.
Kick On was on Niels Petersen’s Dubai team in 2022, and Could Be King ran at Meydan in Elkær Stutteri’s colours in 2022 and 2023.
Kick On’s best performance was in the Singspiel Stakes (Gr.2), where he was fifth, beaten only three lengths by the winner Lord Glitters (Whipper).
Could Be King was seventh in the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint (Gr.3) in 2023 and produced a fine effort. He crossed the line only four lengths behind the winner Al Dasim (Harry Angel). Unfortunately it became his last start.
VICTORY IN THE JYDSK DERBY FOR THE SECOND TIME.
As already mentioned, Singita won the Jydsk Derby in 2003, and in 2025 it became another Jydsk Derby win for Elkær Stutteri.
The well-bred Acapulco Sunrise (Almanzor) was bought as a yearling at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale at Kildare Paddocks.
Acapulco Sunrise did not make his debut until he was a 3-year-old, with a third place behind No Surrender (Giant Sandman) and Go Go Flame (Go Go Gadget).
But already on his second start at Klampenborg he was a commanding winner ahead of Dr T H G (Sottsass).
Acapulco Sunrise lined up as favourite in the Jydsk Derby, and he won comfortably ahead of Go Go Flame and No Surrender. It was Niels Petersen’s first win in the Jydsk Derby.
The next big target was to have been the Norsk Derby, but Acapulco Sunrise picked up an injury during training.
A great disappointment for Ingermarie and Thorkild.
”Acapulco Sunrise has started working again”, Ingermarie and Thorkild noted. ”But the future plans naturally depend on the injury not flaring up again”.
”We therefore have no firm plans for him – only hopes”.
NEW PURCHASES.
In the autumn of 2025 Elkær Stutteri made four major purchases of very well-bred horses. One in Denmark and three at yearling sales at Tattersalls and Goffs.
First Elkær Stutteri acquired at the Scandinavian Open Yearling Sale a full sister to the 2024 Danish Derby winner Brigadier, by Moohaajim and out of Queens (Philomatheia). The sale price of 700,000 kroner is the highest ever achieved at a Scandinavian thoroughbred sale.
At the end of September Ingermarie and Thorkild followed up with the purchase of a colt by Starspangledbanner (Choisir) out of My Call (Shamardal) at the Goffs Orby Sale.
And it later became two purchases at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. A colt by Ghaiyyath out of Jersey Rose (Profitable) and another colt by Pinatubo out of Ebbesbourne (Teofilo).
The latest purchase is a 4-year-old sprinter, Ides Of March, who comes to Scandinavia with a handicap of 91.
”He is by the highest ranked sire in Europe in 2025, the now deceased Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj, ed.) and out of a Scat Daddy mare. He is the winner of the Round Tower Stakes (Gr.3) as a 2-year-old and was second in two Listed races last year”, explained Ingermarie and Thorkild.
All the new purchases have gone into training with Niels Petersen at Øvrevoll.
”And perhaps a Derby winner is hiding among the newly bought young horses”, believe Ingermarie and Thorkild, who find it hard to judge which of them is the best at this point.
”We usually say that no one can take the joy of anticipation away from us – that is what we live on”.
”BEING A BREEDER AND AN OWNER IS A BIT LIKE LIVING ON VOLCANOES”.
”Great joys and sorrows in racing have filled much of our lives, and it has given us many fantastic experiences and pleasures”, Ingermarie and Thorkild recounted.
”The ‘kick’ you get when things go well is indescribable, whether it is a win in a feature race or a winner in a class 4 race. It is hard to let go once you have got it under your skin”.
”And fortunately we have become better at putting a lid on and forgetting the great frustrations and disappointments and setbacks with injuries etc., which of course also come with owning racehorses”.
”If we have regretted anything, it is that we stubbornly stuck to the strategy of relying solely on our own families with good coverings abroad. It is easy to be wise after the event, but we should have bought more well-bred in-foal mares to supplement our stock”.
”The chance of getting more absolute top horses would then have been greater. But at the same time there has also been a charm in welcoming the 5th and 6th generation”.
”Besides, we have probably relied too much on stayer blood, which has meant that many of our horses have not been ready to run as 2-year-olds”.
In conclusion Ingermarie and Thorkild stressed: “Racing is such a small sport that if it is to continue to have a future, all those active in the sport have to try to work out how to co-operate and treat each other with respect – both in conversation and in how they speak about each other”.
