The
Goodwood success of blue-blooded Galileo colt Highland Reel in the Group II
Vintage Stakes has prompted interest in Australian mares at stud in Europe, his
dam Hveger having been sent to Ireland in 2009 by her owners the Arch of Gold
Syndicate, who bred and raced her champion siblings Elvstroem and Haradasun.
Click here to read about Highland Reel.
Frank Tagg, Garry Moffitt and Frank Meduri took a punt in sending Hveger to the
Northern Hemisphere and it's a punt that is paying off.
Her first foal born in Ireland, a colt by Galileo sold for 450,000 guineas at
the 2012 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and her second, another colt by
Galileo, sold for 460,000 guineas at the same sale in 2013 and is now Highland
Reel.
She has another yearling colt by Galileo to follow and produced a very valuable
filly to him this year.
Not surprisingly, Hveger is now back in foal to Galileo again!
Hveger had two foals in Australia before her departure and the first of those,
the Group I VRC Oaks runner-up Valdemoro is now in the ownership of John Muir's
Milburn Creek Thoroughbreds.
Purchased for $500,000 by Milburn Creek Thoroughbreds from the 2012 Inglis
Broodmare Sale when in foal to Choisir, Valdemoro has already offered her new
owner a good return when the result of that mating, a stunning colt, sold for $340,000
earlier this year at Inglis Easter to Richard Jolly.
Valdemoro is due to foal to All Too Hard this spring, so the progress of
Highland Reel will be keenly monitored not only by Team Coolmore, but also by
Milburn Creek Thoroughbreds!
Coolmore have invested heavily in quality mares in recent times with some big
names now at stud in Ireland including Australian Group I winners Sea Siren,
Atlantic Jewel and Melito, who are all in foal to Galileo, the latter having
produced a colt by him earlier this year.