FOUR-year-old entire Nicconi has not yet earned $1 million in prizemoney, but in the space of little more than 57 seconds at Flemington yesterday he became worth 10 times that amount after unleashing an amazing finishing burst to win the group 1 Lightning Stakes, reports the Sunday Age.It says: The $300,000 first prize in the 1000-metre sprint pushed his earnings to $985,950 from just 13 starts, but it was the subsequent all-expenses-paid invitation to test his credentials in group 1 races in En
FOUR-year-old entire Nicconi has not yet earned $1 million in prizemoney, but in the space of little more than 57 seconds at Flemington yesterday he became worth 10 times that amount after unleashing an amazing finishing burst to win the group 1 Lightning Stakes, reports the Sunday Age.
It says: The $300,000 first prize in the 1000-metre sprint pushed his earnings to $985,950 from just 13 starts, but it was the subsequent all-expenses-paid invitation to test his credentials in group 1 races in England this winter that could be the real pay-off for connections, who include trainer David Hayes and long-time stable clients Peter Devitt and Les Gordon.
It is expected that at least 50 per cent of Nicconi will be sold to an Australian or international stud before he flies out to race at Royal Ascot and Newmarket in England in June and July. Before yesterday, four studs had already expressed interest in buying into the horse.
''We have been loath to sell but after such a great win in such a great race as this, I think the owners could be interested in selling a half-share,'' a jubilant Hayes said. ''He was already a group 1 winner [of the Galaxy in Sydney], but this is the race that we were after. It's a good horses' race and he now gets the chance to become a dual-hemisphere group 1 winner and that's not just good for his owners but for Australian racing.''
Yesterday was the first leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, which moves from Australia after the Newmarket Handicap to England for the King's Stand at Ascot and July Cup at Newmarket. There are then the Centaur Stakes and Sprinter's Stakes in Japan before the series returns to Australia for the Patinack Farm Stakes at Flemington in November and finally the Hong Kong Sprint in December.
Hayes, who is yet to take a horse to England, was feeling pretty good about himself yesterday, particularly as Nicconi's success came two races after he prepared the 2007 English Derby third placegetter Our Aqaleem to win at his Australian debut after a 30-month lay-off from racing. He said he had been planning to send Nicconi to England as far back as last autumn but those plans were on hold until he won this race.