English King sold for record breaking sale
English King has been sold for a record breaking 925,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale and is set to go to Australia to continue his career.
The bidding for English King opened at 400,000 guineas and after a battle between Ted Voute and Armando Duarte, who were both bidding on behalf of their global contacts, Duarte eventually secured the colt for Ballymore Stables Australia and Paul Moroney Bloodstock.
As a three year old English King won the Lingfield Derby Trial, setting a new course record and beating the subsequent St Leger second Berkshire Rocco by two and three-quarter lengths. He was also fifth in the Derby at Epsom, claiming a fast-finish, fourth in the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood and sixth in the Grand Prix de Paris last month.
English Kind was owned by Bjorn Nielsen and trained by Ed Walker, who also trains Capriolette who is owned by Co. Director of The Horse Exchange Mr A R & Mrs T J Blaxland.
After the sale was completed Ed Walker said “It has been a perfect storm. In a normal year Bjorn may have sold more yearlings and he may have been up for competing internationally with this horse from home, but when I tried to persuade Bjorn to keep him and aim for all these big races in Australia and Hong Kong and around the world, quite rightly Bjorn was worried as to whether we’d be able to race in those races? Will racing be happening? Will we be able to travel? Will the horse be able to travel? Unfortunately it is a perfect storm. I would have loved to hang on to him, but a great result and Bjorn puts a lot into the game and it is great to get a big result like that.”
Ed went on to say that “We have had a great journey with him, and he made lock-down a bit more interesting! It was a wonderful season and it did not end as we hoped it would – I am still looking for my first Group One winner and I was certain he would be it, things just played against him. He had a couple of very hard races – you don’t break a 30-year-track record without giving your all, he had a hard race at Lingfield, and then a very hard race in the Derby when he ran an absolute blinder. His next two races weren’t up to that level, but he is not a big horse and those races probably took their toll. I am very grateful to the guys who bought him and wish them every bit of luck and I hope he wins the Melbourne Cup for them. I think he is tailor-made for the Cup – he’ll stay, he travels, he loves fast ground and I will be thrilled if he does that for them.”
Paul Moroney, via Duarte, said: “English King’s track record performance winning the Lingfield Derby Trial beating St Leger runner-up Berkshire Rocco was one of the most breathtakingly dominant performances anywhere this year. He is clearly a highly talented colt with loads of quality and we are thrilled to have secured him. Through their joint sire Camelot and with similar race records at the same stage, English King maps the same as last weekend’s Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet. We’ve bought him for a syndicate headed by two New Zealand businessman and a collection of Ballymore Stables’ Australian clients. He’s certainly an exciting addition to the team and our first time playing at this very high level, so one could say the pressure is on for him to perform. He will head Down Under in December to join Mike (Moroney’s) Flemington stable early January and play things by ear. He will likely race in our autumn, but next spring will be the main focus going forward.”
We wish English King every success in the future.