European big name joins Australian strong
An equine blueblood formerly owned using racing’s wealthiest people has departed Europe’s leading solid to keep his Australia career.
Rostropovich, who completed fifth in final yr’s $5m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) and $7.3m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m), will compete over the 2019 Melbourne Spring Carnival for Lindsay Park Racing.
His most recent begin came in the HK$20m ($3.5m) Hong Kong International Vase (2400m) when completing seventh at Sha Tin on December 9.
“He raced in Hong Kong, so it is not honest to get him again to Australia,” said David Hayes, who will educate the pony in partnership with Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
Formerly prepared via Aidan O’Brien, Rostropovich returned to Ireland after racing in Hong Kong and was then purchased by a syndicate led by way of Mark Pilkington.
Any horse that visits Hong Kong cannot enter Australia for 6 months underneath cutting-edge quarantine policies. Therefore Rostropovich has been transferred from Ireland to New Zealand and will enter Australia in the middle of this yr.
Hayes is confident Rostropovich will degree up in Australia’s great races next season based totally on his fifth-positioned efforts in the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
“He was best 3 years old (to European time) and doing that, his shape is proper up there,” Hayes stated.
By way of Galileo’s unbeaten son Frankel out of English mare Tyranny, Rostropovich is a twin 1400-meter winner that produced Zoffany.
Zoffany turned into bought for 220,000 guineas ($436,000) via Coolmore’s powerhouse trio of John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.
That proved a clever investment as Zoffany gained 5 of seven starts at some stage in his two-12 months-antique season, including the 2010 G1 Phoenix Stakes (1200m) at The Curragh.
Zoffany was runner-up inside the 2011 G1 St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) the subsequent season at Royal Ascot, turning into one in all only two horses to ever end within a length of Frankel.
Zoffany stole the headlines as a stallion in the course of Royal Ascot in 2015, producing 3 royal meeting winners from his first crop of two-yr-olds.
Rostropovich, Zoffany’s more youthful half-brother, turned into a call for whilst supplied as a yearling in October 2016. He became purchased for 1.1m guineas ($2.2m) by using Magnier, Tabor, and Smith; additionally, he was with South African businessman Markus Jooste within the organization.
Jooste changed into taken into consideration one of all Africa’s biggest racehorses proprietors on time. Still, his worldwide racing portfolio, titled Mayfair Speculators, has been notably reduced because he is resigning as CEO of Steinhoff International in December 2017 after the organization’s auditors refused to approve audited economic outcomes due to ‘accounting irregularities.’
Rostropovich has steadily displayed improvement in his career, winning four of 14 begins and $1.33m in prizemoney.
He won two times from 5 begins as a -12 months-vintage, claiming the G2 Futurity Stakes (1200m) in August 2017 and finishing 1/3 within the G1 National Stakes (1400m) the following month, each race held at The Curragh.
His 3-yr-vintage season began on a disappointing notice inside the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau (1600m), the principle lead-up race for the G1 French Guineas (1600m). Rostropovich becomes hopelessly outdated on heavy ground at Longchamp, completing fourth of 5 starters.
He then atoned with the aid of easily winning the Listed Dee Stakes (2075m) at Chester, decent-turning left-exceeded music.
The G1 Epsom Derby (2419m) turned into bypassed in preference for the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (2100m) held 24 hours later at Chantilly in early June. Rostropovich settled 3 returned on the fence off a dawdling pace, and once more, his lack of acceleration was uncovered on damp French turf as he lugged away from the rail along with his tongue over the bit to complete the midfield.
A tongue tie was brought to his gear for the G2 King Edward VII Stakes (2412m) at Royal Ascot, and he ran nicely for 2d at the back of Old Persian, certainly one of England’s nice staying three-yr-olds.
