Phoenix Thoroughbreds have strengthened their team in Australia by adding seven horses from the Inglis Easter sale and Arrowfield online draft as the group continue to plan for the future.
The owners have had a successful 12 months in Australia celebrating four Group One victories and recently came off a run of sending out a Group-class winner on four Saturday’s in a row during March. Keen to build on that success (some of which has come in co-ownership) the team behind the ambitious group have moved to secure some well-bred yearlings.
Having so expertly guided the career of homebred Farnan, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott will take delivery of another product of Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ breeding operation. Buying out their partners the Dubai based group moved to secure Lot 391, a Snitzel filly out of I Am Invincible mare Comprende. From the family of top-class winners Excites Zelady and Zelady’s Day Out her new connections will be hoping she can follow in the hoofprints of their Golden Slipper winner.
Meanwhile, the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace team will take charge of two new Phoenix recruits. The duo has provided much success for the owners, most notably with dual Group One winner Loving Gaby. Lot 349 another progeny of Pierro this time a filly out of Exceed And Excel mare Bellevue Girl and a full sister to Group Three winner Bellevue Hill. While Lot 397, a Not A Single Doubt filly out of Group Three placed Dame Margo Fonteyn, is another to join the Maher/Eustace ranks.
Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior have both had a long-standing relationship with Phoenix and have a pair of purchases heading their way. Both were bought privately form the Arrowfiled online draft including Lot 294, a Snitzel colt from the family of Group One winner Melito. The other joining their string is Lot 404, another colt this time the progeny of Group One-winning sire Dundeel and Redoute’s Choice mare Defender. Closely related to the former champion three-year-old filly and prolific top-level winner Alinghi it’s easy to see why the new owners were keen to secure his services.
Phoenix has also decided to race more of their homebred youngsters instead of sending some of them through the sales ring this year. They’ll be hoping they can add their success as breeders with the likes of the aforementioned Golden Slipper victor Farnan and Group winner Letzbeglam.
“We have bred some really lovely looking types which are showing plenty of promise,” explained Phoenix Thoroughbreds CEO Amer Abdulaziz. “Most of these have excellent Australian pedigrees and they are the types of horses we’d be interested in buying anyway, so with the current global situation in mind, we feel our best option is to race them.
“We have strengthened our teams in the UK and Australia by purchasing some attractive prospects while our breeding operations in both countries and the US continue to thrive. Additionally, we have some exciting prospects from previous sales now just coming into training and we continue to plan for the future with plenty of optimism.”
Phoenix has welcomed plenty of news foals this past month from top sires, including Galileo, while they recently announced Grade One winner Dream Tree is in foal to Curlin. Add to that the continued popularity of Advertise, currently enjoying his first season as a stallion at the National Stud in Newmarket that optimism seems well placed.