Originally Published by TTR on 22nd October 2023 (LINK).
If ever there was indication of the influence that the Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale has on racing in Australia, it’s that for the past nine weeks in succession, at least one graduate from the sale has won a Saturday race in either Melbourne or Sydney.
You need only look at Saturday’s results to find two perfect examples of the quality that can be sourced from the world’s largest auction of its kind, with 2018 graduate Buffalo River (USA) (Noble Mission {GB}) winning the G3 Moonga S. at Caulfield for the second time to take his career earnings past the $1 million mark, whilst last year’s graduate Unspoken (Ire) (Territories {Ire}) made it three wins on the bounce with a dominant 3.9l success in the $160,000 Filante H. at Royal Randwick.
The latter, who was sourced for 170,000gns (AU$344,000) by bloodstock agent Will Johnson in conjunction with Snowden Racing, has been a revelation since returning from a spell in September, building on the promise he showed during his first preparation in Australia earlier in the year.
Like many of the European imports that have graced the turf Down Under, Johnson feels that Unspoken has improved out of sight with the benefit of his first Australian preparation under his belt, and with Saturday’s wide-margin success still fresh in his mind, the bloodstock agent is relishing the prospect of Unspoken tackling the $2 million The Five Diamonds on November 11, a race for which the son of former Darley shuttler Territories (Ire) is now favourite with some bookmakers.
“Having bought these imports with Peter and Paul (Snowden) for the last two years, we have found that each horse has improved significantly in their second preparation,” Johnson told The Thoroughbred Report.
“That first prep is really just jet lag, like how we feel jaded for a few days when we travel. For a horse that’s clearly a couple of months, but once they’re over that they really hit their straps.
“They have often shown ability in the morning and in trials in that first prep, but after a couple of runs and a spell they seem to come back the finished article, which has been great to see with this horse (Unspoken).
“When you have picked up a horse who came here rated 76 and is now a favoured runner in a $2 million race against similar profile horses, some of which cost considerably more than him, it is obviously very pleasing.”
The introduction of races like The Five Diamonds, an 1800-metre contest restricted to 5-year-olds, combined with the continuing success of European imports in Australia, has helped increase the appetite for horses like Unspoken according to Johnson, who is happy to look outside of the obvious in the horses in training market in a bid to find some value.
“It’s fantastic that Racing NSW has put on so much prizemoney over the last couple of years and the races are there to be won,” he added.
“If they have programmed a $2 million race for 5-year-olds, it’s a trainer and a bloodstock agent’s job to go and identify the right horse and try and win that race, it’s as simple as that. It’s very competitive, but it’s also very rewarding.
“We’re always trying to find that horse with unknown upside. Often you buy a horse rated 105 and 110 and there are very few hiding places for it if it doesn’t measure up, whereas a horse like this can settle into Saturday races and if they go the right way you end up winning some very solid prizemoney on the way through.
“The last 20 years of Australian racing has shown that if you want to be competitive over a mile-plus as an older horse, you have to be buying them from Europe, and there is no better place than scouring the grounds of Tattersalls in Newmarket.”
As well as the untapped Unspoken, Johnson and the Snowden stable have also enjoyed recent success with fellow Autumn Horses in Training Sale graduate Old Flame (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who was secured for 250,000gns (AU$505,000) two years ago from the fiercely contested Juddmonte Farms draft.
Old Flame won the G2 Linlithgow S. at Flemington almost 12 months ago to the day, before running a cracking third behind Group 1 performer Riodini (NZ) (Proisir) in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The 6-year-old, who is still an entire, has earned his new connections in excess of $600,000 since arriving on Australian soil, a figure that dwarfs the £8323 (AU$16,000) he earned during his four starts in Britain, of which he won two.
Results like that, combined with the Group 1-winning exploits of the stable’s private purchase Huetor (Fr) (Archipenko {USA}), has seen the demand for European imports skyrocket amongst the Snowdens’ client base, and Johnson revealed that there has already been plenty of interest registered ahead of this year’s sale, which gets underway on Monday at 9.30am GMT.
“There is definite eagerness to buy, especially from the Snowden stable and from the partners that have had luck with Huetor, Old Flame, Unspoken, Tazaral and a couple of others we have bought, so hopefully we can buy a few horses this week,” he said.
“It was very kind of Peter and Paul to give me the opportunity to buy these imports a couple of years ago. As an outsider looking in, I thought that they were more than capable of training horses other than being renowned for those 2-and-3-year-old sprinters, and it has shown their versatility as trainers.
“Ultimately they have done the hard yards at 3am to get these horses performing, which is a credit to their team. Colum McCullagh and I sift through the catalogue and then the buck stops with Peter and Paul so to speak, so it’s a real team effort to make sure that we are all on board with the horses we are buying.
“Like anything, four minds looking at them is much better than one, and it’s working well. It’s very satisfying to have set about trying to achieve something and be enjoying the rewards thus far.”
Last year’s Autumn Horses in Training Sale saw records tumble across several metrics, with the market buoyed by significant investment from some of the world’s wealthiest racing jurisdictions in the Arabian Gulf.
With that investment showing no sign of relenting, Johnson, who has worked the Autumn Horses in Training Sale remotely ever since he returned to Australia after working with Hubie de Burgh in Europe, is unsurprisingly forecasting more fireworks this year, though he remains optimistic about getting on the buyer’s sheet.
“I’m anticipating a much stronger market with new and renewed enthusiasm and purchasing power from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Bahrain with their very strong winter carnivals from December through to March,” he said.
“It’s fantastic for the European model to have viability trading horses. Whilst they don’t run for much money, the trading dollars are very strong, if not stronger than here in Australia.
“I’m anticipating it to be difficult with the Australian dollar, but having said that, 12 months ago we faced similar competition, so it’s just a matter of following the right horses through and having a bit of luck.”