‘There’s a lot to look forward to and a lot of pressure too’ – man of the moment Alex Elliott scoops Agent of the Year award

Amo Racing securing the 2,500,000gns sister to Chaldean was not the only reason bloodstock agent Alex Elliott had to celebrate on Friday. Earlier in the day the man behind Elliott Bloodstock Services added to a memorable 12 months by scooping the coveted Agent of the Year award.

The presentation, which took place in the bidders’ area at Tattersalls, was made by Geoffrey Howson, honorary president of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents, in front of a cast of supporters that included several senior members of the Coolmore team. 

Elliott tasted Classic glory during the latest Flat campaign with Valmont colour bearer You Got To Me, a 200,000gns Book 1 purchase, landing the Irish Oaks for Ralph Beckett. His other highlights in 2024 include seeing 50,000gns Book 3 buy Term Of Endearment claim the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes for Henry de Bromhead, and Aidan O’Brien saddling Bubbling, a 320,000gns purchase, to win the Rockfel Stakes. 

The agent’s name was also attached to the winners of two of the season’s most competitive handicaps, with Magical Zoe winning the Ebor having been picked up for £140,000 in the unlikely surroundings of the Goffs UK Aintree Sale, while Lord Melbourne made his 16,000gns price tag look money well spent when he claimed the November Handicap. 

And, moreover, Elliott once again highlighted he is a man for all seasons when the Gordon Elliott-trained Teahupoo, a private acquisition on behalf of Robcour, landed the Grade 1 Stayers’ Hurdle events at the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals. 

Alex Elliott purchase Teahupoo and Jack Kennedy jump the last to win the Champion Stayers Hurdle at PunchestownCredit: Caroline Norris

Elliott said he was thrilled to claim a maiden Agent of the Year title, particularly having finished runner-up to Anthony Bromley 12 months ago. 

He said: “Geoffrey came up to me with a bottle of whiskey under his arm after King Of Steel won last year’s Champion Stakes and said, ‘Alex, can I have a word?’ At that point I thought we’d got it in the bag. Then he said, ‘Well done, but you’ve finished second’. I thought to myself I better try a bit harder next year! 

“Where do you start? There are so many people involved in making everything happen and I’m just really grateful to them all. The owners, the trainers, the stable staff. None of it would happen without their trust and hard work. 

“This year has been a bit mega but a lot of that has been down to having the infrastructure in place. My assistant Lucy Ryan deserves a lot of kudos because she takes a lot of the heat. I get to do the enjoyable bit by finding the horses and buying the horses, but she's got to do the grunt work and I couldn’t do it without her. The same goes for my family because in this line of work you’re away a lot, which is hard with a young family, but this is where I’ve always wanted to be.” 

Lucy Ryan: came in for praise from Alex Elliott in discussing awardCredit: Laura Green

Elliott has enjoyed an equally memorable year in the sales ring, most notably as part of the Amo Racing team that signed for 34 yearlings at an outlay of 25,990,000gns during the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The seismic sales haul was headed by the 4,400,000gns Frankel filly out of Royal Ascot winner Aljazzi and a well-related son of Wootton Bassett who became the most expensive colt in European auction history at 4,300,000gns. 

By the close of trading at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale, Elliott had signed for 140 yearlings for a range of clients throughout the latest sales season. 

“The Irish Oaks was a bit of a pinch me moment, to do it for Anthony [Ramsden] and Valmont, that was very special,” he continued. “Coming into the yearling sales, and off the back of King Of Steel with Amo, I didn’t see that coming, so that was another pinch me moment too. 

“The whole European industry has been lifted by [Amo Racing’s investment], which has been a wonderful thing to see. We all know horses are horses though, I just hope we’ve bought enough of the right ones. It’s kind of in the lap of the Gods now. They were beautiful horses with beautiful pedigrees that cost a lot of money and they’ve all gone to the right trainers, but who the hell knows?

You Got To Me winning the Irish Oaks was a particularly memorable day from the season for ElliottCredit: CAROLINE NORRIS

“Every time you buy a horse you’re hoping it’ll be a Group 1 winner, and that’s the level the people I buy for want to be at. Those horses are bloody hard to come by, they’re like hen’s teeth. And it’s so competitive when you’ve got to take those sales horses and stack them up against the homebreds from Coolmore, Juddmonte and Godolphin. It’s a hard thing to do but we’re trying our best.” 

Elliott described buying winners as “like an illness”, with a taste of success giving you only an appetite for more.  

“It’s great, but you’ve got to keep it going and keep up the momentum,” he said. “Every year from starting off you’re building, building, building towards something. Now it’s about maintaining it. We won a Classic this year, had King Of Steel last year, but we need more Group 1 horses. It’s going to be hard to top this year but we’ve bought some lovely yearlings and they’ve gone to the right trainers, it’s down to a bit of luck now. There’s a lot to look forward to and a lot of pressure too, but as people say, pressure is a privilege.” 

Elliott has also successfully turned his hand to selling under the banner of Imperium Sales. The outfit topped last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale when McKeever Bloodstock teamed up with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing to buy Balance Play for 575,000gns. This year’s draft was responsible for third-top lot Hutchence, who went the way of Chris Waller Racing at 460,000gns. 

Hutchence sells from Imperium Sales to Chris Waller Racing for 460,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn HIT SaleCredit: Alisha Meeder

“When you’re getting to buy nice horses for good people, sending them to good trainers and managing them along the way, it’s nice to be able to finish it off by selling them too, which I love,” he said. 

This has been Elliott’s tenth year in business as a bloodstock agent. While he was at pains to stress that his success has been made possible only with the support of so many others within the industry, he said having the opportunity to turn his self belief into results has been a particular source of satisfaction. 

“I’ve been window shopping all my life, which gets frustrating, but there’s a lot of people out there who have to window shop because they don’t have the backing,” he said. “I’ve got the backing now, and if I can keep up the backing then I’m sure I can keep up the results. 

“I always knew that I could do it, but it’s a slow burn. As a kid I wanted to train and used to look at Aidan O’Brien training Istabraq at 25 years of age. You think stuff should be happening quickly, but it rarely works like that in this industry. Looking back ten years isn’t a long time at all. I’m 39 now so I’m just hoping to keep finding more You Got To Mes and King Of Steels. That’s what my clients want, so that’s what we’ve got to find.” 

After presenting Elliott with a box of Hoyo de Monterrey cuban cigars to mark his success, Howson commented: “I first met Alex when he was assistant to Jamie McCalmont and helping source horses for Ralph Beckett. When I noticed how diligently and productively Alex worked at the sales, I proposed him to become a member of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents – one of my more perceptive moves! 

“At last year’s Agent of the Year award I informed Alex that he had been runner-up, following the exploits of King Of Steel, and he replied that he was determined to win in 2024. He has been duly rewarded and now enjoys a wonderful client base. I’ve also been impressed by Alex’s dealings with the media following his high-end purchases on behalf of Amo Racing and partners at the yearling sales.”

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