G1 NZ 2000 Guineas winner Ugo Foscolo (NZ) (Zacinto {GB}) will join trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in Sydney and will aim for next autumn's G1 Australian Guineas, according to New Zealand Racing Desk. Ugo Foscolo raced in New Zealand in the colours of Lib Petagna, who races the likes of Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) in Australia, but he has been purchased privately with the majority ownership now belonging to Kevin Hickman from Valachi Downs and Todd Bawden.
“There had been a lot of interest in Ugo Foscolo from a lot of places and Kevin wanted to ensure the horse was keeping Group 1 company in Australia for the stallion,” Valachi Downs manager Jonathan Scully told New Zealand Racing Desk. “As far as Kevin is concerned it's about making sure that Ugo Foscolo gets every possible opportunity. He's spelling at Dean Hawthorne's place and he'll probably be there for another 10 to 14 days and then go over to Gai. The Australian Guineas is a likely target and longer term we're hoping to get through to the [G1] Cox Plate. Some didn't think he would get a mile and he proved them all wrong at Riccarton. He's still maturing and he'll strengthen more so we think he will go over a bit more ground.”
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