A price tag of more than £3.6m for a one-year-old horse was described on Wednesday night as potentially ‘cheap’ as Sheikh Fahad al-Thani of Qatar won the battle to own a much-admired young colt, sold by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stud. The unnamed animal is a brother to the unbeaten Too Darn Hot, the even‑money favourite for the Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday.
“I think he’s the one we all wanted,” said the Sheikh’s racing manager, David Redvers. Fahad joined the bidding as it passed £3m and saw off competition from Dubai’s Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum and Japanese interests, eventually signing for 3.5m guineas, a record for a yearling sold at auction this year. “These horses don’t come up very often. If he’s as good as his full brother, he’s a very cheap horse today.”
Whether this colt has any speed is a matter of pure conjecture at this stage, for all that his pedigree is flashy and his physique was described by Redvers as “pretty faultless”. But the available clues are about as promising as they could be; in addition to Too Darn Hot, the colt has two sisters who were both placed in top-class races.
Worcester 1.25 Desirable Court 1.55 Nightfly 2.25 Freedom Run 3.00 Back On The Lash 3.30 Winter Spice 4.00 The Dawn Man 4.35 Braddan Head
Ayr 1.35 Pendleton 2.05 Syndicate 2.35 Hot Hannah (nb) 3.10 Inexes 3.40 Redarna 4.10 Drover 4.45 Havana Go 5.15 Pammi (nap)
Bangor 1.45 Markhan 2.15 Handy Hollow 2.50 Molly Childers 3.20 Eyesopenwideawake 3.50 Forget Me Knot 4.25 Jaunty Thor 5.00 Marju’s Quest
Chelmsford 5.10 So Hi Class 5.45 Airwaves 6.15 Fintas 6.45 Big Country 7.15 Oscar’s Ridge 7.45 Haroon 8.15 Majeste 8.45 Jumping Cats
Tips by Chris Cook.
This time next year we will be a lot closer to knowing whether Fahad has spent wisely. He is surely aware of the potential downside, having shelled out 2.5m guineas for the hopeless Hydrogen at this sale in 2012, but he struck gold when buying Roaring Lion for $160,000 in Kentucky two years ago, the grey having since won more than £2m in prize money, guaranteeing himself a lucrative stud career.
“Sheikh Fahad and his brothers want the very best,” Redvers said, “and they’ve had a major taste of what that’s like this year with Roaring Lion, which has been wonderful to be part of and hopefully it’s not over yet. You can draw your own conclusions about where this one is likely to be trained.”
While Fahad will decide that, it seems probable this colt will be sent to John Gosden, trainer of both Roaring Lion and Too Darn Hot. Gosden was here and said Too Darn Hot had breezed well under Frankie Dettori on Tuesday morning.
Of his Arc winner Enable he said: “She’s eaten up and she’s in great, great form and we are very happy with her.” A decision is 10 days off but it appears there is every chance she will race again this year, at the Breeders’ Cup.
