Coronavirus restrictions see Zoffany's Argentinian shuttle mission aborted

Travel restrictions put in place to deal with the global coronavirus pandemic have seen plans to shuttle Zoffany from Coolmore to Haras Firmamento in Argentina aborted, with fellow Dansili stallion Remote recruited from Haras Vacacion to take his place.

The latter is a half-brother to brilliant miler and sire sensation Kingman, whose son Palace Pier emulated his sire by winning the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.

Remote struck at the royal meeting himself when successful in the 2013 Hampton Court Stakes and should prove a welcome addition to the roster at Firmamento, where he will stand alongside the War Front stallion Hit It A Bomb, whose first runner Weston landed a valuable maiden special weight on his debut at Santa Anita last month.

"We changed Dansili for Dansili," said Ezequiel Valle of Firmamento to Turf Diario. "You had to move and fast. We'd long wanted to bring Remote to Firmamento, even before we knew Zoffany was not going to be able to come. We tried in previous years and it didn't happen."

Statistics from the Argentinian stud book reveal that Remote has produced 29 winners from 60 runners to date, headed up by the local Group 2 winners Atrevido Cry and Tabina.

Zoffany, who stood the latest season for €22,500 at Coolmore, supplied two new Group winners last weekend with his juvenile daughters Minaun and Mother Earth capturing sprint contests at Cork and Naas respectively.

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