Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott may well have won a Cox Plate and a Melbourne Cup this spring had their imported stayer Sir Delius (GB) not been ruled out following vetting scans, but the disappointment of that experience has in no way dampened their enthusiasm for the European product.
During the second session of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale overnight they secured three exciting young horses in conjunction with McKeever Bloodstock – all of them by Wooton Bassett - and will be hoping they have found something of the quality of Sir Delius, who they purchased from Coolmore at this sale last year for 1.3million guineas.
This year they purchased two more from Coolmore paying 320,000 guineas for Thrice and 260,000 guineas for Swagman, both of them being three year-old colts by Wootton Bassett.
Both horses are Group III winners this year and both are from daughters of Galileo, the same cross that has produced this year’s leading Melbourne Cup contender Al Riffa.
The pair were signed for by Johnny McKeever and Claudia Fitzgerald.
"We will take them straight to Oz," reported Fitzgerald. "We will let them acclimatise, they are young horses and lightly raced, and have the exact profile of a horse that we come here to target. They are incredibly sound, they are lovely and fresh and we love progeny by Wootton Bassett."
She added: "When the catalogue comes out we start making plans, we then have a couple of days here to get around them all, and these two in particular really stuck with us as physically big, strong types who will suit Australia. We have ownership plans in place."
Johnny McKeever added of the decision-making process: "Rob liked one a bit more, and we Iiked the other a bit more, and so we said if they come reasonably priced we should buy the pair – they are both Group winners, they are coming from a leading stable and we have done really well buying off Coolmore.
"We take the view that we send them to Australia and they get a break and we start from scratch. These horses from Coolmore are blue bloods, they are beautifully bred, and they have beautifully clean vettings.
"Rob Waterhouse is the guru on what he feels form-wise and then Claudia and I are looking at them physically, and I always defer to what Claudia thinks she will be able to sell – I ask her if she will be able to sell to her clients."
The third of their purchases is another three year-old by Wootton Bassett in Tribal Nation, who was snapped up for 200,000 guineas from The Castlebridge Consignment.
A winner last year at two in the Joseph O’Brien stable, he has had eight starts in total for a win and four placings. He was gelded earlier this year and has had one run since for a third placing at Leopardstown in September.
"He ran well in the Britannia which is a race we have had good success coming out from," said Fitzgerald.
"He is a young horse, has lots to give and is relatively lightly raced, he is by Wootton Bassett and we have had great success with horses by him, they are not easy to buy! I actually thought this horse was super buying at 200,000gns.
"He has been running over shorter than perhaps we'd look for [7f and a mile], but he looks like a horse who will stretch out, especially when we get him to Australia and the sun on his back!"
The sale continues.
