- Kia Joorabchian’s horseracing venture Amo Racing splashed £11million
- It is a major statement of the football super-agent’s intentions in racing
- Joorabchian has big ambitions, having represented huge footballing names
Amo Racing, the racing venture of leading football agent Kia Joorabchian, made a remarkable statement of intent with an £11.5million recruitment drive at Tattersalls.
The October Yearling Sale Book 1 is where the best-bred young horses in the world are sold each year and Joorabchain, who was accompanied by Nottingham Forest Chairman Evangelos Marinakis at the historic site, left nobody in doubt of his ambition to be a major player in the bloodstock industry.
Joorabchian biggest purchase was 4.4million guineas for lot 68 – a daughter of super sire Frankel, whose mother was a winner at Royal Ascot called Aljazzi. He got the better of a Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida, leaving the auction room gasping as auctioneer John O’Kelly kept inviting bids.
It was the second biggest individual yearling sale in Tattersalls’ history, falling just short of the 5million guineas that was spent on a sister to Epsom Oaks winner Was in 2013. If that was not dramatic enough, though, Joorabchain then spent a further 2.6million gns on lot 72.
This was another daughter of Frankel; a baby sister of Alpinista, the winner of the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe who had been the subject of so much interest before the sale started. Alpinista was trained by Sir Mark Prescott and he will have the privilege to handle her sibling’s career.
Football super-agent Kia Joorabchian splashed £11million on 10 horses at Tattersalls
His company’s outlay included three offspring of unbeaten legendary horse Frankel
Sir Mark has done a wonderful job curating this family,’ said Joorabchian. ‘We never had any doubts in our minds when he said he would like to train her. There is no one better to train this filly than the man who has masterminded so many wonderful moments for this (equine) family over 30 years.’
On a thrilling day when a staggering 42,680,000 gns was spent on raw promise, Joorabchian bought 10 horses on his own and another three in partnership with Qatar’s Al Shaqab racing; his investment was of more than 12million gns was equal to 28 per cent of the day’s trading.
Aside from the two fillies, Joorabchian also paid 1.1million gns for a son of Frankel who is related to a raft of outstanding performers. There is no indication, as yet, where he will be sent to begin his career in 2025.
There have been challenges for Joorabchian this summer, with his best performer King Of Steel suffering an injury that ruled him out of a number of high-profile races, but his love for racing in the United Kingdom is beyond question and this investment illustrated his quest for success.
‘We need strong-pedigreed fillies,’ said Joorabchian. ‘We have a lot of horses going to stud in the next year. Bucanero Fuerte will end up at stud, I don’t know this year or next year, and King of Steel will go to stud, I don’t know this year or next year yet. Soon we will have to make a decision.
‘We have Persian Force at stud and we just need to back them, otherwise we are just going to get left behind. The kind of investment we have made in the last few years, we are going to have to change a little bit and we have to back our stallions to have a chance at winning.
Joorabchian has represented some of football’s biggest names including Philippe Coutinho
‘It’s very hard to buy those mares because Juddmonte, Coolmore, Shadwell, all the big guys, own all the big mares. We went after fillies with strong pedigrees. It’s very hard to buy them after they have won a Group One. You’ve got to get them early and we hope they will do well.’
In total, Joorabchain bought 10 horses on a day when extraordinary sums were invested. Sheikh Mohammed, whose appearances in public are increasingly rare, was on site and sanctioned the 2.2million guineas purchase of a colt whose father is one of the world’s best stallions, No Nay Never.
