Segenhoe Raised Merchant Navy to stand at Coolmore
Coolmore Stud Stakes winner and Segenhoe raised Merchant Navy will stand next to his father, super sire Fastnet Rock, at Jerrys Plains after being sold to global breeding powerhouse Coolmore for more than $30 million.
It is the first son of Fastnet Rock that Coolmore has decided to buy following his racecourse performances, and he is seen as having all the attributes of his famous father. He will race on under the management of Coolmore, but the prized colt has been leased back to his original owners for the remainder of his career on the track and will target the Melbourne autumn sprints and Royal Ascot next year.
Segenhoe Stud’s Peter O’Brien, who took a share in the colt after he made $350,000 at the Easter sales, said he was living a dream with the colt that he foaled.
“He is a horse of a lifetime,” O’Brien said. “He was always special and he has it all, being a group 1 winner now. We look forward to next year and his years to come at Coolmore. It’s wonderful he will get the chance to stand next to his father and continue the family tradition.”
“I have kept a small share and it is an honour for me to stay in a horse with John Magnier because he has done so much for me personally and in my career.”
Merchant Navy comes from a powerful sprinting line, being out of Snippets mare Legally Bay and has won five of his six starts. He had excuses when checked early in his only defeat in the Golden Rose and was somewhat underestimated before his Coolmore Stud Stakes victory.
The powerful built son of Fastnet Rock possesses an explosive turn of foot and used it to come from a seemingly impossible position to take the Coolmore Stud Stakes during the Flemington carnival.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald