Horse Racing

McGrath picked a gem in Williamsburg


Shane McGrath may now be the “opposite” of Tony Fung Investments’ powerful racing division, but he can’t help but feel extremely pleased after seeing it. Williamsburg won the Grainshaker Vodka Fernhill Handicap April 9 at Randwick Racecourse.

Hunted to lead another Hong Kong-based racing and breeding startup late last year, McGrath chose Williamsburg trained by Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou as the object of his aspiration, the winning horse. the latest share the Irish have bought for former boss Fung, one leading the list is none other than the 2020 Longines Golden Slipper (G1) winner Farnan.

The son of Snitzel a purchase of AU$470,000 (US$360,231) during last year’s Inglis Easter sale, expected to aid in the April 16 Champagne (G1) Shares program to add to his record He already has three wins from five games starting with Schweppervescence (G3) on his credit card.

McGrath told ANZ Bloodstock News from Hawaii April 10: “With Williamsburg, while he certainly wasn’t cheap, we were delighted when the hammer dropped because we were ready to do all 12 innings. for him.

“Sally Gordon came from Arrowfield (after he was sold) and her first words were, ‘You guys stole him,’ and it sounds like he’s one of the family’s success stories. Fung.

Registration for

“They invested a lot of money in racing and they started to boom again this year. They’ve got him, they’ve got Voldemortthey had Boyfriendrunner-up in UNSW Todman Stakes (G2), and The best of Bordeaux.

“They’ve had a phenomenal couple of years with their 2- and 3-year-olds and I consider that entirely to the systems that work. It was a huge thrill to cheer him home from here. “

While McGrath, taking the family on a short vacation after a hectic sales season, is happy to reflect on the results of the track, his focus is on helping new player Shen You Holdings cement his footing. in the Australian livestock and racing industries.

Last December, McGrath was recruited to lead Shen You Holdings, which has the backing of Hong Kong entrepreneurs Josiah Ma and Alex Leung and a number of other major backers, many of whom are owners. Owns a famous racing horse with Hong Kong Jockey Club.

“Aquis’ success over the past few years has certainly been in the spotlight in Hong Kong and we look forward to replicating that for our investors,” said McGrath.

“From my time in Aquis, the criterion has been to find ponies that appear agile by proven stallions and generally stick with ponies that are not of the proven mare breed. can do either the first, second, or third class ponies.

“It was a simple enough formula and it obviously worked. It’s not rocket science – there are plenty of other people doing the same thing. “

Shen You Holdings’ racing and livestock investment arm, which is trading under the name Harbor Equine, signed a five-year partnership at the Australian Born Annual Sale in Inglis last week.

They teamed up with James Bester and coach Ciaron Maher on a Tycoon writes pony for AU$375,000 (US$278,298), AU$300,000 Snitzel puppy (US$222,639) with Maher, agent John Foote and trainer Tony Gollan on another Snitzel puppy in number of winners Seven News Australian Oaks (G1) Strong wind for AU$360,000 (US$267,166) and AU$410,000 (US$304,273) Capitalist with trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy and Damon Gabbedy of Belmont Bloodstock.

McGrath also applied for AU$650,000 ($482,384) I am invincible colt out of New Zealand group 1 winner Ms. Wilson along with trainer Annabel Neasham and her blood manager Brian McGuire. The pony has a special meaning to McGrath.

Selected 2019 discounts in Fasig-Tipton Saratoga
Photo: Fasig-Tipton Photos

Shane McGrath in the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga . sale

“In a previous life, me, Michael Kirwan (now at Kia Ora) and (Coolmore Australia principal) Tom Magnier owned Miss Wilson’s dam many years ago (Cierzo),” he said.

“Kia Ora bred the horse and they kept a part of it and it was obviously Ananda Krishnan, Michael Kirwan, and Shane Wright, so it would be great if something happened there for the benefit of the horse. old times.”

Shen You Holdings’ Leung has been with McGrath for the majority of sales expected in Australia this year while Shen You Holdings director Ma is expected to be in the country ahead of Magic Millions National Broodmare and Weanling Sale on the Gold Coast in May. .

They also bought shares in a Written Tycoon pub that Rushton Park sold to coaches Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr for AU$275,000 ($204,085) at the Inglis Premier sale in Melbourne and a son of Camelot who was purchased for coach Clinton McDonald in Cranbourne for AU$380,000 (US$282,009) in the same Oaklands Junction auction.

As part of its trading model, Harbor Equine will offer its weaning plant to the market for Magic Millions while it will also offer two sentiment shares. Extreme choiceone at the President’s Sale and the other at the Gold Coast Auction, while the group is also close to reaching agreements to purchase several promising stallions yet to be identified.

“We don’t have a definite number that we want (at the start of the year) but we can work with around 40 horses across all sales and have a number of stallion prospects that we have identified. decided that we were negotiating at the moment,” he said.

“One is the first season stallion that has just been announced and then there are a number of stallion prospects still racing that we also hope to participate in.

“We are just trying to make a good spread in our portfolio and we have a broiler sale coming up to support those stallions. We will actively seek to partner with key players in the industry who would like us to join and be able to see what we are trying to achieve.

“At the end of the day, I think this industry is, for most, if not everyone, high risk, high reward, but everyone is there to make a dollar and profit. And we are no different in that regard. ratio.”

Driven by the pressure of trying to emulate the success of the ponies due to Farnan and other ponies win bets like Anders, Pragueand Mo ‘unga“Well, the way you look at and judge a horse hasn’t changed, but as we know, there’s a lot going on right from the hammer drop,” says McGrath.

“Sometimes it feels like buying them is the easy part. If good fortune could be bought so easily, we would all ride the Roller and live Reilly’s life. “



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