Atlantic’s final Jewel is value for Farrington
The late, great, Atlantic Jewel’s (Fastnet Rock) sixth and last foal headed off towards his racing career yesterday, knocked down for a price which – all standard questions of unknown ability considered – looked a bargain at $240,000.
A strapping son of US Triple Crown-winning first season sire Justify (Scat Daddy), the colt’s birth brought tragedy, with his former champion dam dying after the birth after haemorrhaging.
Offered by Coolmore as agents as Lot 62 in Inglis Easter’s first session, the bay was bought by UK-based agent Dermot Farrington for well below Justify’s average on the day of $415,000.
One of Fastnet Rock’s (Danehill) finest, Atlantic Jewel’s many laurels included four Group 1 victories and three at Group 2, two honours as Australia’s champion 3YO-and-older female and world champion titles in two WTR categories. But, sent to the UK initially and mated with the great Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) five times, she’d started to be cited by some as more evidence that great racemares often don’t fire at stud.
Four of those five offspring achieved very little, with second foal, Pacific Ocean, gaining a mention in despatches for winning over a mile in Ireland.
But much has changed, dramatically, in the form of the middle pin of the quintet. In 2020, two months before Atlantic Jewel’s death, Russian Emperor became a Group 3 winner at Royal Ascot, taking the Hampton Court Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) for three-year-olds.
He was later exported to Hong Kong and on February 20 this year became not just a Group 1 winner but bolted in, by more than four lengths, in the Hong Kong Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) at Sha Tin. The win was followed by a Group 2 second, dropping back to 1600 metres, to the outstanding Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro) last Sunday.
No one is suggesting the fact his top-level breakthrough came too late for this week’s hard copy catalogue kept his half-brother’s price down yesterday. Two Hong Kong Group 1 third placings did make it in. But in any event, Farrington was well pleased with his shopping, whilst maintaining a strong line in homespun Irish wisdom.
“He’s a fine big horse, quite similar side-on to Russian Emperor, and one of the best-bred horses in the sale. It would appear he’s good value, but only if he gallops. If he doesn’t gallop, it’s $240,000 lost,” Farrington said with a grin and a prayer, before more seriously contemplating Atlantic Jewel’s stud career, and the modest progeny of some other greats in these parts.
“You do hear it about the good racemares, like Makybe Diva, Black Caviar, Sunline. They do race on a bit longer in Australia than Europe, where the good ones are more often retired after they’re about three. But I haven’t got any real theories on it. As soon as I start making a rule, there’s nothing like a horse to break it.
“It’s a funny old thing. Sometimes they take off eventually. You can never dismiss those racemares because sometimes they might click. And then the next thing is there’s a daughter of theirs that does the trick.
“Atlantic Jewel did have a few foals, but really, she’s already produced a Group 1 winner, who’s also a Royal Ascot winner, so you’d have to say she’s doing it.
“He’s a proper horse, Russian Emperor. Plus I hear there’s another one in the pipeline that’s going to be OK,” he said, possibly referencing Aidan O’Brien’s as yet unraced three-year-old, Fleet Commander.
Farrington was running “first-up” in the Australian yearling market after a three-year pandemic-induced spell which kept him in the UK, and was clearly champing at the bit. He also pounced early to buy his only other yearling of the day, Lot 36, a very well-related filly by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) out of Abscond (Galileo) for $850,000.
Offered in the Sledmere Stud draft, the filly is a half-sister to Group 1 and multiple stakes-winner Invincibella (I Am Invincible), and two other stakes-winners – from Abscond’s four foals to race – in Secret Blaze (Sizzling) and Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice).
As such, she might have been expected to yield a higher price. But, eyeing the other side of the coin that makes vendors dread going early in a sale, Farrington loves hunting what might be termed “early bird specials”.
“It seems to me that at all these sales wherever I go to – Keeneland, Tattersalls, wherever – there always seems to be a bit better value earlier in these sales than later,” he said.
“And this is a lovely filly. You won’t find them any better looking than that. And there’s a lot of black on the page, so she’s the type where even if they didn’t race, you could bring her into an elite broodmare band.”
Farrington was yet to finalise trainers for his two buys yesterday.