Starspangledbanner kept in training
Retirement plans have been put on hold for Starspangledbanner who remains in training with Aidan O’Brien for the rest of the season.
The Australian-bred colt stamped himself as the best sprinter in the world when he added the July Cup at Newmarket yesterday to his other Group One victory since joining O’Brien this season in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
Already a dual Group One winner in his native Australia, when trained by Leon Corstens, Starspangledbanner has enhanced his breeding appeal internationally by winning in Britain - that makes him into a highly marketable shuttle stallion for Coolmore operations in both Australia and Ireland in the future. And there is an understandable need to balance the books on their investment after they bought Starspangledbanner in January, at a cost reported to have been Aus$10million (about £5.8million).
It was believed that Starspangledbanner’s stud fee at Coolmore Australia, where he would have stood alongside his sire Choisir, had apparently already been set at Aus$33,000 (about £20,090). Connections were left with a hasty decision as the horse would have had to be placed in quarantine at midnight if he was to be ready to travel back to Australia in time for the next southern-hemisphere breeding season.
But Michael Kirwan, the general manager of Coolmore Australia, has confirmed that retirement plans have been deferred.
Speaking after Starspangledbanner had beaten King’s Stand Stakes winner Equiano a neck in the July Cup, to confirm his status as the best sprinter seen out this season, O’Brien had said: “When he first came to us, the intention was just to go to Ascot and then he would go to stud. But he’s just so special and it will be hard to find another one like him. There will now be a big debate over the next few hours as to whether we keep him or whether he goes to Australia. I’m sure the lads in Australia would love him, but we would love to keep him too.
“We feel privileged to have him – it’s our job to prepare horses and it is what you get up in the morning to do, but we also have to recognise that it’s a business too. The horse has to go into quarantine at 12 o’clock tonight if he’s going to Australia and obviously that’s a decision that has to be made. We’re all hoping that he is going to stay but the decision is not ours - we will put our ha’penny into it.
“When you get a horse like that you feel very privileged to have him so we’re going to be fighting to keep him but the decision will be made later.”
Having won the decision to keep the colt in training, O’Brien must now map out a racing programme for Starspangledbanner. The most obvious route for a champion sprinter elect would be the Nunthorpe Stakes at York next month, which is sponsored by Coolmore, and the Sprint Cup at Haydock Park in September.
However, there could be other options. The victories in the Golden Jubilee and July Cup offer connections a shot at the $1million bonus on offer for a horse who can win three races in three different countries from the eight that comprise the series.
Starspangledbanner finished only fourth to Nicconi in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington in January but he could still be campaigned en route to return to Australia for his next career as a stallion.
The programme could take in the Sprinters Stakes, at Nakayama in Japan In September, the Age Classic at Flemington in November and finally the Hong Kong International Sprint at Sha Tin in December.
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