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Talented pair join roster at Jerrys Plains.
Ultra-talented duo Magna Grecia (Invincible Spirit) and Calyx (Kingman) will shuttle to Coolmore Australia in 2020.
The pair, who covered their first books of mares at Coolmore Stud in Ireland this year, will join the roster at Jerrys Plains in the Hunter Valley.
Purchased by Coolmore for 340,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, Magna Grecia, who was raced in partnership with the Niarchos’ Flaxman Stables, broke his maiden on his first start at Naas, before finishing second in the Autumn Stake (Gr 2, 1m). The Aidan O’Brien-trained son of Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) then put in a sparkling performance to win the Futurity Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) at Doncaster, beating subsequent Group 1 winner Phoenix Of Spain (Lope De Vega) into second.
On his first start as a three-year-old Magna Grecia lit up the Newmarket Rowley Mile, taking out the first Classic of the season - the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) by a decisive two and a half lengths. The colt retired to stand at Coolmore the winner of £457,558 in career earnings.
Magna Grecia is one of three winners out of Group winning-Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Cabaret, who won the Silver Flash Stakes (Gr 7, 7f) as a juvenile and is herself a half-sister to Group 3 winner Drumfire (Danehill Dancer) and Listed scorer Ho Choi (Pivotal).
The dual Group 1 winner will be joined in Australia by Juddmonte Farms-bred Calyx who is out of Group 3 winning two-year-old Helleborine (Observatory), who is herself a sister to Group 1 winner African Rose - the dam of Group 3 winner Fair Eva (Frankel). Further back this is the family of Group 1 winner and sire Distant Music (Distant View).
Trained by John Gosden, the colt retired the winner of three of his four starts which saw him amass £154,958 in career prize-money.
Calyx showed his precocious speed when taking out his only two starts as a juvenile, headlined by his victory in the Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) at Royal Ascot, beating multiple Group 1 winner Advertise (Showcasing) in the process.
The colt was kept in training as a three-year-old opening his account in the Commonwealth Cup Trial Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) and he then finished second in the Sandy Lane Stakes (Gr 2, 6f), before a leg injury prematurely curtailed his career. Upon retirement it was announced that the colt will stand at Coolmore Stud – with owner-breeders Juddmonte retaining an interest.
“We are delighted to welcome two very exciting new sires in Calyx and Magna Grecia to Coolmore Australia,” said nominations and sales manager Colm Santry.
“They’re both top-class racehorses from the red-hot Invincible Spirit sire line and are both out of Group winning juveniles. In fact Calyx is the fastest son of Kingman, while Magna Grecia is the only son of Invincible Spirit to be a Group 1 winner at two and three.”
“I inspected both horses in Ireland a few months ago and they’re very good-lookers. Both are strong individuals with impressive walks.”
Meanwhile, Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier said: “Calyx and Magna Grecia are two important additions to our stallion roster, as is our record-breaking Everest winner Yes Yes Yes. All three stallions demonstrated exceptional ability at both two and three. We feel very fortunate to be able to offer them to Australian breeders.”
Fees for the pair and the rest of the Coolmore roster will be released at a later date.
