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Ever wonder what happened to that 3-y-old you were following? I’ve been keeping track of one called Medici Code that was sold to the States after winning three on the AW early this year for Hugh Morrison.
This morning, I got a DRF entry notification that he’s running at Del Mar on Saturday in a Grp 2 turf race over a mile and a sixteenth. Looking at the list of entries, there were a few other familiar names – the field includes:
Star Inside – 3 wins in Ireland last year for K Prendergast
Karazi – won last start at Saint-Cloud
Worldly – won at Wolverhampton last August and has already picked up two Grp 3 contests at Hollywood Park for Ben Cecil
Ten A Penny – won his first four starts this year for Jamie Osborne.
Along with Medici Code and a few local runners, this has the makings of a decent Listed contest at Newmarket, but at Del Mar, they’ll be running for a $150,000 purse. Which of course explains why they are all over there and not still racing in Europe!
Not to mention what their current owners will have paid for them – suffice to say that Medici Code went for a lot more than the 12,000 gns the trainer paid for him as a 2-y-old at the Doncaster breeze up sale.
Medici Code was outpaced in the Santa Anita Derby on dirt on his first US start, but was just touched off in a $75,000 1M turf allowance race at Del Mar on the opening day of their season recently, form that isn’t shown on the Racing Post website.
AP
Thanks for that AP. I saw Medici Code win at the Sandpit – never seen a horse win so easily. Will be watching with interest.
Surprised high, or surprised low?
I talked to Hugh Morrison about MC when his Odiham beat Salute in a photo at Kempton and he gave me a figure, which I’m not going to reveal as it’s a private matter.
AP
Surprised hight, as in if I had racehorses the first thing I’d do is try and run up a sequence on the all-weather and go "who’s bidding?"
I remember Hughie saying on tv at the time how much they got but the figure hasn’t stuck in my mind, think it may have been around the £300k mark but am not sure.
350k I believe it was in the end. If he adapts to the US racing then he’s definitely worth it
The owners were offered $250,000 after that first Southwell win I understand but later did a deal that was reported in the Racing Post 27/02/07 to sell the horse for 300,000 sterling.
If I were a US owner, I’d be looking closely at Ravenna.
So far, the electric Tregoning filly has won four on the bounce, on both turf and polytrack, and received for her efforts the princely sum of ten large. That’s just laughable.
There are allowance races all over the States worth double that.
Any others we can think of? (Pawan?
)Ravenna has been winning at 12F – very few fillies races over more than 9F in the US and those that are available are almost all Graded Stakes. Surely she wouldn’t be up to that level?
AP
The Americans buy many European horses because they don’t have so many good turf horses. Most American horses are bred to run on dirt.
Good points though they do breed a number of turf horses – mostly for the sales that O’Byrne and Ferguson amongst others frequent.
If you have an 8-10f turf filly in the US you’ll be raking it in this September-November time
AP, they are very good points, but I think Ravenna in her current form would win races over there at shorter distances. It was just a hunch and as Irish mentions, she could coin it!
Nitro, point appreciated, but I mentioned Ravenna partly because she goes on both surfaces. That makes her of big time interest – like Eccentric, (who, I believe, won a nice race at Woodbine for Tanaka).
Good points though they do breed a number of turf horses – mostly for the sales that O’Byrne and Ferguson amongst others frequent.
If you have an 8-10f turf filly in the US you’ll be raking it in this September-November time
Yes, they bred some good turf horses as well, but most times the Breeders Cup turf races belong to Europe.
AP, they are very good points, but I think Ravenna in her current form would win races over there at shorter distances. It was just a hunch and as Irish mentions, she could coin it!
Nitro, point appreciated, but I mentioned Ravenna partly because she goes on both surfaces. That makes her of big time interest – like Eccentric, (who, I believe, won a nice race at Woodbine for Tanaka).
These are the true class horses who run well on every surface.
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