A million reasons to stay in NZ
Glenn Old’s phone has been ringing red hot over the last couple of weeks after Adam I Am’s impressive maiden victory at Matamata last month, but the talented four-year-old will remain in New Zealand.
A notable trader of horses, Old purchased the son of Almanzor as a yearling at Karaka for $100,000 and put together the Adam I Am Syndicate to race the horse, with co-breeders Philip and Catherine Brown, as well as Kilgravin Lodge retaining shares in the gelding.
Old has taken his time with the now four-year-old, who made a statement when winning his 1200m maiden by five lengths at just his second raceday start.
“I have had a lot of interest,” Old said.
“We sell all of our horses, but we decided to keep this one and hopefully have a bit of fun.
“It is quite exciting times. He has got a long way to go yet but he looks good.
“His mother was very good, I trained her, she was a Group Two winner and Group One placed. Hopefully he is what we are after.”
The Matamata trainer has been pleased with the way his gelding has come through his last start heroics and is looking forward to heading south to Hastings with him this weekend to contest the Dan D’Esposito Memorial (1400m).
“We are really happy with him, he has come through it well. He hasn’t missed an oat and he is happy in his work,” Old said.
“The step up to 1400m should suit and barrier two should be okay. The only concern would be if he got over racing behind a couple if he was tardy away, but he should jump better this time hopefully.”
A freshen-up could follow Saturday’s $65,000 MAAT race, with Old looking towards a start in the new $1 million four-year-old mile race at the Karaka Million meeting in January.
“That is why we kept him here, there is some nice prizemoney here,” Old said.
“There is that $1 million four-year-old mile, if he is good enough. There is a MAAT race over a mile in February worth $350,000, so if he is not quite good enough for the Karaka Million race, he can run in that one.
“We will just take one race at a time. He will probably get a break somewhere before January. If he ran well on Saturday we may give him a couple of weeks in the paddock.”
While many of Old’s barn are traded offshore, he is excited to have a quality horse to race himself.
“It is always nice to have a good horse to take to the races and have some fun with,” he said.
“Most of the horses we race are just bread and butter. It is hard to get a good one.”