DUBAI - Buying the world’s greatest racehorses doesn’t come cheap, but even the industry’s most knowledgeable experts were “blown away” by the $4,356,000 spent on this year’s most expensive yearling colt.
The young horse, the subject of a fierce bidding war, was eventually bought by Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who visited Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in Newmarket, England to ensure he secured the sport’s next potential superstar.
Much is now expected of the half-brother to Group One winner Barney Roy, and he certainly comes from an impressive bloodline - he is sired by prolific stallion Dubawi out of the mare Alina, whose father is the great Galileo.
“He is a really athletic horse, a really good mover,” the Sheikh’s representative Anthony Stroud told Tattersalls. “Sheikh Mohammed picked him out. He was his favorite of today. He cost more than we thought, but you need to go so far to get these sort of horses.”
Sheikh Mohammed is the driving force behind Godolphin, one of the biggest racing operations in the sport, and owns the Darley Stud breeding outfit. But he pushed all the way at the auction by rival dynasty Coolmore, which was also interested in the yearling colt.
