Koolman was the underbidder on the sale's top lot, the Savabeel colt from Bling
that went to the Bryce Heys stable for $460,000 and was determined that he
wouldn't miss out on this occasion."We put in plenty of hours of study before the sale and once we had narrowed our short list down we had three colts we were keen to buy," he said.
"Personally, I wanted the Savabeel and we fought pretty hard to get him, but once we missed out there the attention turned to this colt and luckily enough we had the ammunition to get the job done.
"They are both outstanding types with so much to like about them, but one of the determining factors for this one was the promise being shown by another Exceed And Excel we bought at last year's sale.
"He is in Danny Shum's stable in Hong Kong and looks a horse of real promise so I'm hopeful this colt can do a similar job."
The colt, who hails from the family of quality New Zealand sprinter Coup Align and outstanding Singapore galloper Huka Falls, will go to ex-pat Kiwi trainer Paul O'Sullivan in Hong Kong after spending time at Koolman's Sydney base for the next six months.
Koolman had earlier snared the third colt on his list when he purchased Lot 294, by Equiano out of Check In Time for $150,000 from the Lyndhurst Farm draft. – NZ Racing Desk.
