Go Racing go Royal this week at Ascot

Sleep has been a limited commodity for Albert Bosma this week, with the head of New Zealand-based syndicator Go Racing taking in the racing action at Royal Ascot on the other side of the world.

His sleep deprivation is only set to get worse, with Go Racing’s silks set to feature at the prestigious racing carnival over the following two nights, starting with Dial Me In in the King George V Stakes (2400m) on Friday morning at 2:05am, New Zealand time, while Omni Man will line-up in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (2400m) a day later at 2:40am.

Both horses are trained In Ireland by Jospeh O’Brien, and are part of Go Racing’s new global business model whereby they purchase young stock in Europe, race them in the Northern Hemisphere in their formative years, and if they show enough ability, bring them down to Australia to continue their racing career with leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller.

Go Racing have had plenty of success in the last couple of years using this strategy, highlighted by dual Group One performer and Melbourne Cup-bound gelding Soul Of Spain, Group Two performers Etna Rosso and Tajanis, and the in-form Nobler, who has won his last three starts.

“It (buying and racing in Europe) is something that 10 years ago came on our radar and four or five years ago we started to do it pretty seriously,” Bosma said.

“The plan was always to buy them as yearlings or breeze-up horses and develop them into horses that can run at Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and Champions Weekend in Ireland, and then bring them down to Australia.

“The beauty of buying a breeze-up horse is you buy them as a two-year-old in April and May, they are only up there for 16 months before they come to Australia, and within that time you can race them in a lot of exciting carnivals in a short period of time.

“Joseph knows the plan, he prepares them for Royal Ascot, and he leaves plenty of juice in them and they go to Chris Waller, who is a master at adapting them. You have got two of the best trainers in the world working together, it is pretty special.”

Royal Ascot has always been the focus and Go Racing have been represented at the carnival over the last four years, and Bosma said he is proud to be able to give his clients that bucket list experience.

“This is the fourth year in a row that we have had runners at Royal Ascot,” Bosma said. “Last year I was up there with my wife and we were in the parade ring before Omni Man’s race and next to us was Princess Anne. She was there for the love of the horse and you are mixing with people from all over the world who have come for the love of racing and the love of the horse. It is very special.

“With all the travel issues that we are having this year with everything that is going on, there are 30 owners up there for two horses. It is a bucket list thing to do, to go to Royal Ascot and experience it in the royal enclosure, they do it like nowhere else in the world.”

While not trackside to experience Royal Ascot himself this year, Bosma will be awake in the wee hours of the morning over the next couple of days to watch his horses compete, and he is upbeat about their chances.

“Dial Me In runs tomorrow morning and James McDonald is aboard,” Bosma said. “He is a very progressive three-year-old.

“Our first option was to run him in the Golden Gates Stakes (2000m) on Saturday but given the enormous nominations it looked like he would just miss out, so instead he is running tonight.

“It looks like a weaker field than the Golden Gates, he gets in with a very good weight, he has got a great jockey onboard, and he has got a very good draw.

“He has built very well towards this, he is talented. The only negative is that we are having to go a little bit further than we had anticipated, and that is the question mark for him. We think he is a very good 10-furlong (2000m) horse, and we think he is a nice 12-furlong (2400m) horse in the making. Having the soft draw and James onboard, he has certainly got the ability to be very competitive.”

Bosma is thrilled to team up with expat Kiwi hoop James McDonald, who has donned Go Racing’s silks on many occasions.

“To go up there with all these New Zealand owners and to have James riding is absolutely brilliant,” Bosma said. “It just makes that Kiwi connection so much more special. You do feel like you have come from this tiny country at the end of the world and you are teaming up with a fellow Kiwi to take them on. It makes you feel very proud.”

While looking forward to Dial Me In’s Royal Ascot debut, stablemate Omni Man has already experienced the carnival, contesting the King George V Stakes last year, and Bosma believes he is a winning chance in Saturday’s Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.

“We think Omni Man is a very good chance, he is a Group horse and he is dropping back to handicap grade,” Bosma said. “He has had a couple of warm-up runs, but they have been over distances short of his best.

“He has got a great draw in barrier four and Dylan Browne McMonagle, who is a fantastic jockey, will ride. I think he is a very good chance and is well over the odds at 25-1.

“He is a horse we intend to bring down for the Caulfield Cup (Gr.1, 2400m), so we expect him to run very well.”

It will be a true international weekend for Go Racing, whose silks will also compete in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday, with the Stephen Marsh-trained pair of Imperial Empress and I’m No Angel racing at Ellerslie, while in Australia, Satono’s Shout and Tajanis will race at Flemington, and Speycaster will contest the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) for expat Kiwi trainer Todd Pollard, who recorded his first stakes success as a trainer earlier this month.

“It’s magic for Toddy, he is such a nice guy,” Bosma said. “He has had a really good grounding with Stephen Marsh in New Zealand and Annabel Archibald in Australia, and he is such a good horseman.

“We have got a couple of young horses with him, but we have sent him Speycaster, who has been a pretty good horse for us in Australia. He is in the Ipswich Cup, his two runs leading into this have been very good, but he does need a wet track, he grows another leg when it rains.”