'I thought he was an absolutely gorgeous colt' - son of St Mark's Basilica to carry Saeed Suhail's silks after 950,000gns capture

Leading bloodstock agent Richard Brown was busy buying for a range of clients throughout the session, and the Blandford Bloodstock man’s haul was capped by the 950,000gns son of St Mark's Basilica from Newsells Park Stud. The colt, out of the German Group 2 winner Longina, is set to race in the familiar colours of Classic-winning owner Saeed Suhail.

“I thought he was an absolutely gorgeous colt and out of a very good racemare by Monsun, who’s already produced a decent filly in [Prix de Royaumont winner] Ottery,” said Brown. “It’s a lovely back page too. Obviously I was very keen on him, then Saeed Suhail saw him out here, and he was much braver than I would have been!

“There aren’t many owners out there who’ve owned two Derby winners, obviously he had Kris Kin and we bought Desert Crown here a few years ago now in Book 2. He likes mile-plus horses, and this is certainly a horse who'll need a bit of time. He looks like he’s going to be a mile-and-a-quarter or a mile-and-a-half horse, but he’s a patient owner.” 

Both of Suhail’s Derby winners were trained by Sir Michael Stoute, as was the owner’s 2,000 Guineas scorer King’s Best. But with the master trainer calling time on an epoch-defining career at the close of the current campaign, Suhail is set to send Wednesday’s new recruit elsewhere. 

“He had a tremendous relationship with Sir Michael over a number of years, they had two Derby winners together and a Guineas winner,” said Brown when asked about training plans. 

“There’s going to have to be a little bit of a restructure, which has already been discussed. At the moment he has horses in training with William Haggas and Andrew Balding, so it’ll be up to Saeed. We’ll have a chat at the end of the sales and work it out, but I’m sure any trainer would be happy to have this colt. I’m liking what I’m seeing from St Mark’s Basilica, who was an exceptional racehorse.” 

Richard Brown in action at Tattersalls on WednesdayCredit: Tattersalls

Brown’s other purchases included the Churchill half-brother to Royal Scotsman who fetched 750,000gns when presented by Barton Stud. After describing the youngster as “a particularly outstanding individual, a very special horse” Brown shared his reflections on trade, which led to an impassioned endorsement of the domestic racing and breeding industry. 

“The best racing is in England, you can’t beat it,” he said. “With Wathnan Racing we were fortunate enough to have a phenomenal Ascot this year. When you’re standing there at Royal Ascot and your horse has won, there’s nothing like it. We’ve still got the best product on earth, so we should stick our chest out and be proud of it.

“Yes there’s challenges, but this is where everybody wants to compete, and win. I’m a rugby fan, and this is the Premiership right here. Of course I’m English and I’m fiercely proud, but I do think our racing and our bloodstock is the best in the world. Yesterday probably showed that because there’s people from all over the world here to buy our horses. We’re very good at beating ourselves up and actually we probably shouldn’t.”

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