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| Staff Writer |
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Jacquinot, a 3YO, will run for his current owners in The Everest 2022, but he will race in the colours of Sheikh Fahad's Qatar Racing for a new ownership syndicate headed by Widden Stud. The deal, brokered by James Harron Bloodstock and rumoured to be worth $15 million, is expected to be finalised soon.
Jacquinot won the Gr.1 Golden Rose last start and is one of the favourites to win the TAB Everest against the best sprinters in the world including champion Nature Strip at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Widden Stud supremo Antony Thompson confirmed Jacquinot will eventually retire to the famous Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley once his racing career is over.
“We see Jacquinot as a perfect fit for Widden Stud,’’ Thompson said.
“Jacquinot’s from the Encosta de Lago sideline that has been very successful for us through Northern Meteor and his champion son Zoustar. He was precocious enough to win on debut as a 2YO at Caulfield on Boxing Day and has done nothing but improve ever since. His Blue Diamond run (third placing) was exceptional albeit unlucky and the improvement he has taken into his 3YO season has put Jacquinot at the very top of the sprinting colts’ division,” Thompson added.
Thompson said Jacquinot, trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, has a very similar race and pedigree profile to Zoustar, who won the Golden Rose in 2013 before going on to further Gr.1 success and is now the leading sire in Australia by earnings, standing for a fee of $198,000 at Widden this spring.
Jacquinot will contest The Everest and then is likely to line up in the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes later this spring.
Thompson said there are no plans to retire Jacquinot to stud anytime soon with so many lucrative racing options ahead of him.
“He will complete his three-year-old season and may race on at four with the lure of the $10 million Golden Eagle on the horizon and a possible second crack at the $15 million The Everest in 2023,’’ he said.
Price stated he was very proud of what Jacquinot had achieved in just his first six starts: “He has the superior athletic ability; he was a very good 2YO who was unlucky not to win the Blue Diamond and he has made the necessary improvement as a 3YO.