HIGH-CLASS IMPORTS JOINING THE TEAM

An intense morning of trackwork and phone calls on Thursday and we are delighted to say the team has been further strengthened by the addition of three new horses purchased at the Tattersalls Horses-In-Training sale at Newmarket in England.

English King (pictured), Emissary and Keats have been purchased on behalf of some loyal stable clients and Mike Moroney is excited to be welcoming three high-class imports to the Flemington stable.

“It’s been a long two days but it’s been worthwhile,” Moroney said. “We were able to buy Keats on Tuesday and then today we’ve got English King and Emissary so we’re both excited and delighted at the same time.

“English King is the most expensive at 925,000gns but for a horse of his class and pedigree we were expecting we would have to up the ante and spend.

“He’s a horse we decided we had to have a try for when we saw he was a wild card entry into the sale and fortunately for us we’ve been able to secure him.

“He’s a quality horse and has similar form to Sir Dragonet, both by the same sire in Camelot, and went into the Derby at Epsom last year as favourite after winning the Derby Trial most impressively.

“He’s a horse that goes best on a firm track and he comes to us lightly-raced which is a key factor as there is still scope for him to improve.”

Moroney believes the last start York winner Emissary is well-bought at 350,000gns.

“He looks the right sort of horse, a nice staying horse still improving,” Moroney said. “He’s a similar sort to Aktau who won a Mornington Cup for us but a bit stronger physical and he has good form.

“He brings the right form, he has a current Timeform rating of 108, he’s a half-brother to an English Derby winner and his sire Kingman will be a help.

“He’s mostly sold but there will be an opportunity to buy into him and he’s a horse that we feel has a fair bit of up side to him.”

Keats is fully subscribed after being purchased and the stakes winning three-year-old son of Galileo is a faster type Moroney said.

“He’s a bit different to the other two, he’s probably more a Buffalo River type but again he has really strong form line being a last start Listed winner over 1600m,” Moroney said.

“He’s got a cracking pedigree, by Galileo out of a Group 1 winning sprinter, is sound and a horse that has stallion potential with some Group form here.

“We’ve got three really nice horses and it’s exciting to be able to add them to the team here at Flemington in the New Year.”