When a Teofilo (Ire) half-brother to Red Cadeaux (GB) went through the Tattersalls December Foal Sale of 2013, bloodstock agent Charlie Gordon-Watson took up his customary position in the gangway to the right of the auctioneer and didn't stop bidding until the hammer fell in favour of his client Ronald Arculli.
“His brother paid for him,” said Gordon-Watson as he signed the docket, and if 220,000gns seems like a lot of money for a weanling, it's worth remembering that the three-time G1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux earned almost £5 million from his racing exploits around the world.
By the time his adored elder sibling lost his life last November, the colt now known as Amazing Red (Ire) had spent an educational first season at Ed Dunlop's Newmarket stable and now, aged three, he is set to make his debut tomorrow as the British turf season kicks off properly with Doncaster's Lincoln meeting.
“Ryan Moore's riding him and we've been quite happy with his work at home but we haven't asked him any serious questions yet,” said Dunlop. “We think a mile and a quarter will suit him but I wouldn't want the ground to be too soft.”
The neat dark boy colt, who carried himself well as he stretched out on Newmarket's Warren Hill at dawn on Thursday morning under stable apprentice Harry Burns, will face 10 rivals in the Park Hill Private Hospital Maiden S. at 5.05pm.
His trainer added, “He's not as tall and long as Red Cadeaux, and of course he's a different colour and by a different stallion. He's still a bit green and he has a little look at things, but he has a very good temperament and, in that way, he's very like his brother.”
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