Moore the $60 million man for Storm Boy
Coolmore makes call to Englishman to ride Golden Slipper favourite
Ryan Moore will ride raging Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) favourite Storm Boy (Justify) in Saturday week’s $5 million race and the star jockey will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins in the crucial stallion-making contest, but for Coolmore this selection is just one piece of the puzzle.
Coolmore orchestrated a massive $60 million deal to buy a controlling interest in the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Storm Boy – a contract that could value him at more than $60 million if he was to win a suite of prominent Group 1 races – after the powerful colt’s victory in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) in January.
On Thursday, Coolmore confirmed that Moore, who rode the ownership group’s Shinzo (Snitzel) to win last year’s Slipper, would fly to Sydney to partner Storm Boy at Rosehill on March 23.
James McDonald, who rode Storm Boy for the first time in his dominant Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) performance on March 2, will instead take up the ride on Coolmore’s Slipper second favourite, the unbeaten colt Switzerland (Snitzel).
We’re in an extremely fortunate position to have the services of two of the best jockeys in the world to ride two incredibly talented colts
The premier Sydney rider has been on board the Chris Waller-trained Switzerland, a $1.5 million Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate, at his past two starts, most recently in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) last weekend.
“We’re in an extremely fortunate position to have the services of two of the best jockeys in the world to ride two incredibly talented colts,” Coolmore Australia’s racing and bloodstock manager John Kennedy told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“The barrier draw will be important for both horses, but up until now the preparations for both horses have been perfect and they look set to peak on Golden Slipper day.
“It’s an incredibly exciting position to be in, we have a great group of partners from all over the world in both colts and they all have a lot to look forward to.”
Storm Boy shapes as a pivotal stallion prospect for Coolmore, particularly in Australia as the operation, led by John Magnier, debate whether to shuttle the colt’s brilliant sire Justify (Scat Daddy) to Australia again in 2024.
Coolmore has been tight-lipped about whether Justify – the sire of 26 stakes winners worldwide including unbeaten filly Just F Y I, a dual Grade 1 winner in the US, and Dewhurst Stakes (Gr 1, 7f)-winning colt City Of Troy in Europe as well as Group 2 winner Learning To Fly, Group 3 scorer Air Assault and stakes winner Legacies in Australia – will return for his fifth southern hemisphere season in six years.
If Justify, who is standing the current 2024 season for a private fee at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, which is understood to equate to about AUD$500,000 and if he does return to Coolmore’s Jerrys Plains stallion roster it’ll be for significantly more than the $77,000 (inc GST) he stood for last spring.
His standing – and Australian service fee – would certainly place him in the upper echelon of Australia’s stallion ranks and in the realm of champions I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) if indeed he does shuttle later this year, a decision that won’t be confirmed either way until the completion of the current northern hemisphere breeding season.
That is why Storm Boy, a probable southern hemisphere successor to Justify, looms as a vital cog in the future of the Coolmore Australia’s stallion ranks.
McDonald partnered Storm Boy in an impressive exhibition gallop on the Kensington track at Randwick on Wednesday as the colt, a winner of four from four and a likely contender for the ATC Inglis Sires’ (Gr 1, 1400m) and the ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) post the Slipper, gears up for a possible eight-figure payday – the $2.8 million first prize-money and the huge kicker payment that will follow should he deliver at Rosehill.
“I’ve been glowing of both colts, they’re unbelievable,” McDonald said. “When they’re first and second favourites, it doesn’t really matter which one you’ll be on … you’ve got a huge chance of winning the Golden Slipper.
The addition of Mount White Farm allows our trainers access to a spelling farm in close proximity to their home track, with first class facilities
“They’re a little bit different styles of horses but both incredibly talented horses and they’re both going to be incredibly hard to beat in the Slipper.”
McDonald wasn’t holding any grudges against Moore for taking the ride on the favourite.
“Ryan is the retained jockey so that probably had a play in it. If you’re coming all the way from Europe you’d want to be on the favourite if you can,” he said.
“I wouldn’t rule out Switzerland storming over the top of them, don’t worry about that.”
Storm Boy isn’t Coolmore’s only multimillion dollar investment made over the past six months with Tom Magnier buying the NSW Central Coast-based 77-hectare Strawberry Hill Stud from advertising guru John Singleton last spring.
Mt White Farm
Magnier, Coolmore Australia’s principal, also reportedly recently sold his Point Piper home Notrella for more than $50 million.
The addition of Strawberry Hill Stud, rebranded as Mount White Farm, allows Coolmore to provide commercial spelling services to outside clients under the management of Sean Keogh who was previously James Cummings’ assistant trainer based at Carbine Lodge at Flemington.
“In recent years Coolmore Australia’s investment in its racing team has been extremely significant,” Keogh said.
“This has continued to yield great results for Coolmore and our partners, highlighted by the likes of Storm Boy and Switzerland heading towards the Golden Slipper next week.
“The addition of Mount White Farm allows our trainers access to a spelling farm in close proximity to their home track, with first class facilities.”
