UK yearling sales preparing for heightened antipodean interest
Australian purchases from English auction houses will step out in Group 1s at Caulfield and Newmarket today
Australian buyers are expected to flock to the UK yearling sales this year – virtually, if not in person – with owners seeking to follow a new path to finding staying prospects, a formula that will be tested in Group 1 contests on opposite sides of the planet today with Russian Camelot (Camelot) in the Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) at Caulfield and Zoetic (Kodiac) in Newmarket’s Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr 1, 6f).
In October 2018, British agent Jeremy Brummitt bought Russian Camelot from Newmarket’s Tattersalls sales for Danny O’Brien, with the yearling transferred straight to Australia shortly after the 120,000gns (approx. AUD$228,000) purchase.
Just over 18 months later, having had just four starts – including one previous stakes run at Flemington – Russian Camelot became the first northern hemisphere-bred colt to win a Derby in Australia when scoring in the South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m).
Having been bred in Ireland, Russian Camelot was 144 days younger than the second youngest three-year-old contesting the race and gave 172 days to runner-up Dalasan (Dalakhani).
Brummitt, who recognises fellow bloodstock agent John Foote as the first person to try this method, believes more purchasers are now likely to follow suit.
“I buy through Australia and send them straight to Danny – who was the first person prepared to back my judgement down there – because I’ve been trying to persuade people that was the route to go for a while,” Brummitt told ANZ Bloodstock News this week.
“The domestic market has been thin for a long time and the only thing that sustains British racing is we’ve got the best horses in the world.
“The only racing nation that competes with Britain at a mile and up on the turf is Japan, and they are the only other nation with a balanced racing programme. Everybody else is sprint happy and losing genes that are vital to produce the best horses.
“It’s interesting that Mike Ryan took 24 horses to America last year out of Book 1.
“We sold him (Kingman colt) Public Sector, who has bolted in first time out, and I’m sure there will be a lot more Australians coming, because it’s a competitive business and the nature of the beast is, if they’re getting beaten, they don’t like it, so they’ll come and try and find a horse to do the same thing.
“Largely, the business is one of sheep, not shepherds, and they follow the trend rather than setting the trend. In spite of Covid-19, I think there will be increased interest in trade from America and Australia.”
Brummitt is also involved in buying yearlings for connections that are kept in Britain for their three-year-old season in preparation to run in the major Cups and weight-for-age races down under.
Brummitt, explaining his thinking behind this method, said: “We are trying to prepare future Cup horses for Australia in Britain. Danny is going to saddle one on Saturday (at Caulfield) called Wyclif, who we ran in Britain and was top-weight in the King George V at Royal Ascot.
“We have got Australian partners in that, so he’s had five runs up here and now he’s going to start his Australian campaign. It’s been handled with a view to doing what’s right by the horse instead of squeezing the lemon dry.”
British trainer James Ferguson is involved with similar arrangements and currently has Australian-owned two-year-olds in training, such as Listed-winner Zoetic – who lines up against Group 2 winners Dandalla (Dandy Man) and Miss Amulet (Sir Prancealot) in the Cheveley Park tonight – and Francesco Guardi (Frankel).
“I’ve got a few Australian owners who have been kind enough to support me from my time down there and a few syndicates have been put together in order to buy yearlings in England with European pedigrees,” Ferguson said.
“I effectively act as a pre-trainer. I will run them lightly, with the ambition of finding a good horse for here, maybe getting them to Royal Ascot next year, and then if they’re good enough to go down to Australia they will head to their prospective trainers and hopefully be a good force in Australia, especially in the staying races.
“I think the most attractive nature is the European pedigrees and the way that horses are bought here. If a horse is good enough to run in the Melbourne Cup as a three-year-old, they get such a weight advantage.
“It’s been proven that the Europeans have been good enough to go over and do it. I think it’s another avenue of being able to find top quality horses all over the world. The fact that they’re pre-trained in England, because of the age difference, it works out better for them.”
Ferguson, who saddled his first runner less than 12 months ago, is delighted with how the arrangement has worked so far and is hoping to continue the relationship with Australian connections in the future.
“It’s provided me with a Group 1 runner this year in Zoetic and I’ve got a few unraced horses in my yard for different syndicates in Australia and hopefully we do a good job for people and have some success,” he said.
“It’s obviously a very tricky time for all buyers and vendors at the moment – prices have been down 30 per cent at recent yearling sales – and if there are horses that are suitable, of course I will be putting them up for a few of those guys in Australia. I think it’s definitely a good avenue for Australians to go down.
“With the current state of the market, horses may be bought for a particularly good price and I’d love the opportunity to do it again.”
Despite current Covid-19 restrictions limiting opportunities for Australian owners to come and see their horses run in Britain, it has still been a worthwhile experience for Benny Vassallo, racing manager at B K Racing, who form part of Francesco Guardi’s ownership group and has a close relationship with Chris Waller in Australia.
“The opportunity came from our association with Chris Waller Racing and that of his right-hand man Charlie Duckworth’s friendship with James Ferguson,” explained Vassallo.
“Charlie approached us (B K Racing) to be part of the syndicate to race internationally, with the aim of building a strong foundation to come to Australia.
“Luckily enough Francesco Guardi created the perfect start to the association when winning his first start.
“The feedback we get from James Ferguson Racing is as close contact as possible, with regular audio and visual updates direct from James.”
Great British Racing International, who support individuals keen on getting involved with the sport, are champions of this ownership strategy and expect it to become more popular over the coming years.
Minty Farquhar, GBRI’s acting general manager, said: “Over the past few years, we have seen American buyers wake up to the fact that the logical next step to sourcing high-class European pedigrees is to target the yearling market.
“With horses like Russian Camelot and Fifty Stars demonstrating what can be achieved down under with Tattersalls October yearlings, it feels as if we are on the cusp of this strategy becoming the new trend in Australia, too.
“Australian owners keeping their horses in training in the northern hemisphere for the early part of their career also makes eminent sense, and I expect it’s something we will see more of in the coming years.
“Not only does it suit the horses to get an education in amongst others their own age group at one of Britain’s outstanding training centres or private facilities, but in a normal year, you’d like to think these owners would have the opportunity to travel to the UK to watch their horse compete at Britain’s world-famous summer racing festivals.
“It is just a shame that they have not been rewarded for their bold approach with such experiences in 2020, but we look forward to welcoming them in 2021.”