show me:

Jacquinot to call Widden home

3 minute read

Everest hope to stand at Hunter Valley stud at completion of racing career

JACQUINOT winning the CHANDON GOLDEN ROSE STAKES Picture: Martin King / Sportpix

Jacquinot will run for Coolmore in Saturday's $15 million The Everest, but he will take up residence at another Hunter Valley farm when his racing days are over.

Widden Stud on Thursday night announced that it had acquired a share in the Golden Rose winner, who is a son of Rubick.

Jacquinot will carry the colours of his breeder Lindsay Maxsted on Saturday before switching to the colours of Sheikh Fahad Al Thani's Qatar Bloodstock, which partnered with Widden Stud in the deal brokered by James Harron.

Qatar and Widden also combined with Zoustar, who like Jacquinot is a grandson of Encosta De Lago, which was a key element in Widden's interest.

"He's from the Encosta de Lago sireline that has been very successful for us through Northern Meteor and his champion son Zoustar, so we see Jacquinot as a perfect fit for Widden Stud," Widden principal Antony Thompson said.

"He was precocious enough to win on debut as a two-year-old at Caulfield before Christmas and has done nothing but improve ever since.

"His Blue Diamond run was exceptional and the improvement he has taken into his three-year-old season has put Jacquinot at the very top of the sprinting colts division,"

Jacquinot, who is trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, ensured his stud career with a barnstorming win in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 24, a win that followed first-up victory in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.

Jacquinot is out of the Pierro mare Ponterro, who is out of the Redoute's Choice are Pontiana and is a half-sister to Randwick Guineas winner Inference and Illation and a sister to dual Kiwi Group 2 winner Dragon Leap.

The $2 million Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on October 29 is a potential post-The Everest option, while a trip to Royal Ascot next June could also be on the agenda.