Ghostwriter makes £2million Amo Racing transfer
The four-year-old won the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes as a juvenile and while he failed to get his head in front for owner Jeff Smith and trainer Clive Cox last term, he turned in a string of fine efforts in top company, including third-placed runs in the both the Eclipse and Juddmonte International.
Ghostwriter finished fourth in the Dubai Turf back in April and could step up to a mile and a half for the first time in Saturday's Group Two in the colours of Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing outfit after changing hands at the Goffs London Sale.
Speaking at Kensington Palace Gardens, where the sale was held, Joorabchian told Nick Luck Daily: 'To be honest, my son picked him out a little while ago and he was like 'we've got to buy this'. He's third favourite for the Hardwicke and I think he's got a chance to go up to Group One level, so we'll see.'
When asked if the Invincible Spirit colt will stay in training with Cox, Joorabchian added: 'I don't know Clive Cox but I'm sure we will meet him and we'll see.
'At the moment I'm not buying horses to stay, I'm buying them to hopefully go into our own yard but this one, I don't know yet because he's done a good job with him so we will have a chat, Alex (Elliott, bloodstock agent) knows him a little bit better so I'll get to meet him and see what we do after that.'
Amo's name also appeared in conjunction with Nick Bell after Tycoon sold for £600,000. The three-year-old has won one of his three starts for John and Thady Gosden, most recently placing third in Listed company, and he is entered in Thursday's Hampton Court Stakes.
The Andrew Balding-trained Tropical Storm, winner of the Westow Stakes last time and declared for Tuesday's King Charles III Stakes, sold to Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock for £500,000, while Resolute Bloodstock paid £625,000 for Jersey Stakes contender Woodshauna, who was a Group Three winner last time out for Francis-Henri Graffard.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Kia Joorabchian pays £2m for Royal Ascot horse his son said 'we've got to buy'
The football agent who heads emerging racing power Amo Racing secured the top lot at the Goffs London Sale when buying Hardwicke Stakes runner Ghostwriter Kia Joorabchian splashed more than £2 million on the eve of Royal Ascot to buy a horse his son told him he had to buy. The football agent heads the big spending racing outfit Amo Racing which has ambitions to challenge the leading powers, such as the Coolmore partners and Godolphin. Amo Racing has backed that up with statement purchases at the top bloodstock auctions. Joorabchian's team has a host of runners at the five day royal meeting, which starts on Tuesday, but topped it up with two more buys at the Goffs London Sale on Monday evening. Joorabchian landed the top lot when bidding £2 million for the Clive Cox-trained Group 1 campaigner Ghostwriter, who was third behind City Of Troy in both the Eclipse Stakes and Juddmonte International last year. Ghostwriter will become its highest profile horse since King Of Steel, who delivered royal meeting honours by winning the King Edward VII Stakes in 2023 on the way to adding the Champion Stakes at the end of that year. He is set to run in the Hardwicke Stakes on Saturday in the Amo Racing silks, who also bought Hampton Court Stakes entry Tycoon for £600,000. 'To be honest, my son picked this horse out a little while ago and he said 'We've got to buy this!',' reported the owner, whose previous Goffs London Sale purchases include Beresford Stakes winner Crypto Force. 'Maxi isn't here, but I've got my adopted son, Alex Elliott with me. Anyway, he didn't want to buy it so he doesn't have any pressure. This one's on me. 'Ghostwriter is third favourite for the Hardwicke and I think he's got a chance to go up to Group 1 level, so we'll see.' Tycoon, who finished third in the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood last time for owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen, was knocked down to Nick Bell, on behalf of Amo. Bell said: 'I thought he was very impressive at Windsor when he won, and then he didn't quite stay at Goodwood. 'I'm very keen to run him in the Golden Gates on Saturday, and I think Kia is intending on leaving him with the Gosdens for that race at least. He's lightly raced and has a big pedigree, so he has the right profile to put in a big run. 'He's going to be a single-figure price on Saturday. If he runs well in that he'd end up looking well bought at this sort of money, especially considering the different jurisdictions he could race in. I thought he was a fair price.' FREE £2 William Hill Shop Bets every day of Royal Ascot inside your Mirror We've teamed up with racing experts William Hill to offer your a £2 FREE shop bet every day of the iconic Royal Ascot festival. Pick up your Mirror from Tuesday June 17 -> Saturday June 21, 2025 to get your hands on this great offer. With 12 pages of incredible pullouts every day, PLUS a £2 shop bet, the Mirror is ready to bring you all the runners, riders, and winners of Ascot 2025.
Glasgow Times
6 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Guineas heroes poised for Palace rematch
Field Of Gold might have been even closer than he was to Ruling Court at Newmarket had things played out in his favour, but he showed his worth in the Irish Guineas. The Ruling Court team opted to wait for Epsom, but he was a late absentee as the ground was deemed too soft. As if round two is not enough on its own, Aidan O'Brien's French Guineas winner Henri Matisse joins the battle. 'We took Ruling Court out of the Derby due to the ground, and we can have no excuses with conditions at Ascot,' trainer Charlie Appleby told the Godolphin website. 'It's a very good renewal of the race and the track and trip will suit. We are looking at stepping up in trip at some point, but he has done very little wrong over a mile so far.' The inquest into Field Of Gold's reverse led to Kieran Shoemark being replaced by Colin Keane on the John and Thady Gosden-trained grey at the Curragh, a relationship further solidified with Keane being appointed retained rider for the Juddmonte operation. 'It's going to be a huge race with some huge names and could be the race of the week, but we're happy with Field Of Gold and looking forward to having another crack at the English Guineas winner and seeing how we get on,' said Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon. 'We won't know if Field Of Gold is a better horse than the one that went to Newmarket until after the race, but he is a horse who should keep improving through the year. 'We had to go to Ireland which was a bit of a diversion, but I think as the year progresses he will keep getting stronger. Whether we will see the difference on Tuesday I'm not sure, but we're happy with him and he's taking a step forward with every start this year and hopefully he can take another step again. 'John has always mentioned the Eclipse for him which is very much still a possibility or we could even give him a break after this and wait for Goodwood, but we will decide all this after the race.' Henri Matisse won at the Breeders' Cup last year for O'Brien and the handler expects both the course and quick ground will suit his charge. 'We always thought he liked fast ground and he proved in America he could handle a bend, so that was one of the reasons he went to France,' said O'Brien. 'I took the blame for him getting beaten in France last year, just the way we rode him, then he went and left that run well behind him next time in America.'
Rhyl Journal
6 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Guineas heroes poised for Palace rematch
Field Of Gold might have been even closer than he was to Ruling Court at Newmarket had things played out in his favour, but he showed his worth in the Irish Guineas. The Ruling Court team opted to wait for Epsom, but he was a late absentee as the ground was deemed too soft. As if round two is not enough on its own, Aidan O'Brien's French Guineas winner Henri Matisse joins the battle. 'We took Ruling Court out of the Derby due to the ground, and we can have no excuses with conditions at Ascot,' trainer Charlie Appleby told the Godolphin website. 'It's a very good renewal of the race and the track and trip will suit. We are looking at stepping up in trip at some point, but he has done very little wrong over a mile so far.' The inquest into Field Of Gold's reverse led to Kieran Shoemark being replaced by Colin Keane on the John and Thady Gosden-trained grey at the Curragh, a relationship further solidified with Keane being appointed retained rider for the Juddmonte operation. 'It's going to be a huge race with some huge names and could be the race of the week, but we're happy with Field Of Gold and looking forward to having another crack at the English Guineas winner and seeing how we get on,' said Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon. 'We won't know if Field Of Gold is a better horse than the one that went to Newmarket until after the race, but he is a horse who should keep improving through the year. 'We had to go to Ireland which was a bit of a diversion, but I think as the year progresses he will keep getting stronger. Whether we will see the difference on Tuesday I'm not sure, but we're happy with him and he's taking a step forward with every start this year and hopefully he can take another step again. 'John has always mentioned the Eclipse for him which is very much still a possibility or we could even give him a break after this and wait for Goodwood, but we will decide all this after the race.' Henri Matisse won at the Breeders' Cup last year for O'Brien and the handler expects both the course and quick ground will suit his charge. 'We always thought he liked fast ground and he proved in America he could handle a bend, so that was one of the reasons he went to France,' said O'Brien. 'I took the blame for him getting beaten in France last year, just the way we rode him, then he went and left that run well behind him next time in America.'
