Diverse international group has final nod to secure Curlin colt for $1.5 million

An international high-stakes drama unfolded in the far corner of the back row in the Humphrey S Finney pavilion on Tuesday night as the main characters huddled together tensely, scrambling to be sure they had enough money to fuel their passion.

In the middle of this group was former top Coolmore agent Demi O’Byrne, who was signalling to bid spotters in the supercharged atmosphere of the lively concluding session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale.

America’s most decorated trainer, six-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, stood to O’Byrne’s right, shaking his head affirmatively when asked if he could generate some additional funding if needed, and Australian Shane McGrath, chief executive officer of Aquis Farm, positioned himself just in front, his arms crossed resolutely.

After making a final bid at $1.5 million, this diverse group pushed back a determined challenge from Larry Best and his OXO Equine to secure an athletic chestnut Curlin colt out of Chilean champion Wapi, by Scat Daddy, at a price that ranked as the co-highest of the sale.

Although the Saratoga boutique auction is well known as a primarily American-oriented marketplace, this story could not have been any more global.

Not only did the sale unite Australian-based Aquis with an American partner in Let’s Go Stable, a key Pletcher client, while stage managed by Irishman O’Byrne, it generated an eye-catching score for breeders Don Alberto Corp and Three Chimneys Farm, which are owned by principals from Chile and Brazil respectively.

In an extra jolt of drama, it was revealed that the dam of the colt had died from colic just several weeks earlier, leaving Don Alberto and Three Chimneys with only one other foal, a weanling colt by Gun Runner born on April 1, to help carry on her legacy.

“This is the first horse we’ve bought here,” O’Byrne said while surrounded by media and well wishers. “I just really liked him and I love Curlin as a stallion.”

Curlin, a stallion highly regarded by agent Demi O'ByrneCredit: Michele MacDonald

McGrath, former general manager of Eliza Park Stud in Victoria for 15 years and later bloodstock sales manager for Coolmore Australia, said the heady Saratoga purchase was stoked by Aquis’s desire “to get global.”

McGrath added: “Demi has found plenty of good horses before, so hopefully this is another one. We’ve had Demi on board for a while and he came up here and looked at 25 colts and said, ‘This is the one’, and I came up and agreed with him.

"Fortunately, Todd Pletcher loved him as well. At the end of the day, when you’ve got a good colt in the sale, you’re going to have to step up [in price].”

In addition to Let’s Go Stable, which was formed in 2006 by Kevin Scatuorchio and Bryan Sullivan and has raced the likes of Grade 1 winner Verrazano in partnership, McGrath indicated that Scatuorchio’s father, James Scaturochio, could be involved in the Curlin colt’s ownership.

Nicknamed 'Scat', James Scatuorchio raced Scat Daddy to Grade 1 success prior to his retirement to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud.

Crawford Farm Racing was also listed on the sale report as part of the partnership, and McGrath said percentage shares were still to be determined.

“We’re fortunate to be able to buy the colt and we’re just hoping he’s going to be lucky,” McGrath said. “The sire is so good, and he’s such a good physical - if he can gallop he’s going to be stallion, and if he can’t he’s going to be a very expensive gelding, isn’t he?

“We’ve got a big operation in Australia,” McGrath added, explaining that the Hong Kong-based family of longtime Hong Kong Jockey Club member Tony Fung owns farms in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria under the Aquis banner and “would like to experience global racing. "And Justin, Tony’s son, really wants to get involved in the American side of things, so hopefully this horse is the catalyst.

“We came up here with a very clear directive: try to find the best horse within budget, and hopefully he can be a good horse for us. Who knows if it eventually opens the doors for us to do something up here in America - that would be great."

Decorated trainer Todd Pletcher will assess whether Australia might be a suitable racing venue for the new purchaseCredit: Rob Carr (Getty Images)

McGrath added that the colt also could eventually race in Australia if Pletcher determines that would be a viable option.

In extending Aquis’s reach internationally, the farm’s Australian-bred I Am Invincible mare Houtzen finished second in the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwod last week, and the stable has also competed in Dubai.

Seeking more international-calibre runners, Aquis plans to return to America for the Keeneland September yearling sale and then shop at European sales in the autumn.

“We’ve got Demi O’Byrne on board so magic might strike,” said McGrath.

Meanwhile, for the Curlin colt’s breeders, magic struck with the frantic bidding action. Fabricio Buffolo, executive director of Don Alberto’s operations in Kentucky, said the colt’s $1.5m price exceeded what had been expected.

“We were thinking he could sell for quite a bit of money, close to $1 million, but we didn’t think he would go that far,” Buffolo said.

“We are very happy - it was a good result for everyone. We think that he could be a great racehorse. We would have been happy, if he wasn’t bringing that much money, to keep the horse to race. But we hope he does very well for the new owners."

Don Alberto and Three Chimneys joined together to pay $1,050,000 for Wapi while she was carrying the Curlin colt in utero during the 2017 Keeneland November sale.

Distinguished on the track as well as off it

Following her distinguished career in Chile, where she defeated colts in the Group 1 El Ensayo and also won the Group 1 Premio Las Oaks, Wapi raced briefly in the United States for John Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Glen Hill Farm, and she was consigned to the Keeneland sale by Hill ‘n’ Dale.

Although Chilean-bred and -raced, with Chilean champions We Can Seek and Weekend Trip in her immediate pedigree, Wapi descends from American champion Lady Pitt, her fifth dam, and Lady Pitt’s daughter by Riva Ridge, Grade 1 winner Blitey, who produced three additional Grade 1 winners.

The auction success for Wapi’s Curlin colt is bittersweet for Don Alberto and Three Chimneys, which both prize the value of South American bloodlines.

Buffolo said: “It’s a big thrill for us being that the mare is from Chile. Of course, [Three Chimneys chairman] Goncalo [Torrealba] being from Brazil and [Don Alberto co-owner] Carlos [Heller] being from Chile, they appreciate a mare like her. She could produce anything.

“Unfortunately, she passed away about two weeks ago; she had colic and we couldn’t save her. It was very tough on everybody because we loved the mare. We thought she was amazing."

While it’s too early for the farms to have made a decision on if they will sell or retain Wapi’s Gun Runner colt, “maybe we would keep him to race in honour of her,” Buffolo said.

“We’ll see," he added. "Now we need to look for other mares like her. We just hope this Curlin colt does very well to honour this mare. That’s what we wish for.”

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