10 hours ago
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.'
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