- A top football agent has his sights set on finally winning the Epson Derby
- Joorabchian left breathless after completing £4.5m purchase for yearling colt
- In total, Amo Racing purchased 17 of its own lots and more in association.
Kia Joorabchian’s extraordinary week at Tattersalls ended unprecedentedly as she paid £4.5 million for the most expensive yearling colt sold at public auction.
Under the Amo Racing banner, leading football agent Joorabchian and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis have gone toe-to-toe with the most established blood operations and left no doubt about their ambition to become in important players on the field.
Tattersalls, the famous Newmarket auction house, organizes the Book 1 sale every October, when the best-bred yearlings come up for auction, and the investment of 4.3 million guineas (£4.5 million) of Joorabchian for a son of the outstanding father Wootton Bassett caused everyone’s surprise. the gathered crowd, while pointing at MV Magnier, who represented the Coolmore industry leaders.
Aware of who he was selling it to, auctioneer Alastair Pim, echoing a famous comment from 1966, said as he banged the gavel with a thud: “They don’t make them like this very often, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” …I think it’s all over…that’s it!
Joorabchian celebrated with a little punch and the dream will be for the little colt to be the one to realize his ambitions of winning the Epsom Derby, having finished second twice with Mojo Star (2021) and King Of Steel (2023). If he is good enough, he will apply for Epsom in June 2026.
Top football agent Kia Joorabchian paid £4.5 million for the most expensive yearling colt sold at public auction.
King Of Steel, ridden by jockey Frankie Dettori (right), was one of two Joorabchian horses to finish second in the Epson Derby.
In total over the three days, Amo Racing purchased 17 lots of its own, plus a few more in partnership, including Al Shaqab Racing of Qatar.
The total outlay was a staggering £23.5 million and Tuesday featured a £4.6 million filly, sired by the great Frankel.
‘Who likes spending that kind of money?’ Joorabchian said. ‘But you have to do it. We’re trying to buy the best stocks, that’s all we’re trying to do. We can’t compete unless we try to get the best stocks. How do you compete in another way? It’s very difficult.
‘We’ve been trying for the last few years, but outsmarting these people is very difficult. This colt and the Frankel fillies were our main targets.’
