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A fee for the Blue Diamond Stakes winner will be announced later this week
Yulong Stud has announced that Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa) has retired from racing and will stand at the Victorian operation this spring. His fee will be announced later this week.
“Tagaloa exemplifies the ideal profile for an Australian stallion - he’s good looking, a Group 1 winner at two, trained on to win another Group race at three and is a complete outcross,” said Sam Fairgray, Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer.
Bought for $300,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by Busuttin Racing, the son of Lord Kanaloa (King Kamehameha) retires the winner of three of his 13 career starts.
The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Tagaloa won his only trial before placing third on debut in the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) and then broke his maiden over 1000 metres at his next start at Moonee Valley.
His biggest victory came in last year’s Blue Diamond Stakes where he beat Hanseatic (Street Boss), Away Game (Snitzel) and Personal (Fastnet Rock). It was the second-fastest time ever by a two-year-old over the track and distance since August 2007 and saw him given a rating of 117 by Timeform.
Tagaloa won the CS Hayes Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) in February, running a faster last 400 metres than was run by Nature Strip (Nicconi) in the Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), on the same day. He then went on to run third in the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) later that month.
Tagaloa is the first son of Lord Kanaloa to go to stud in Australia, and a major opportunity for Victorian breeders. He is the only winner out of the winning Heart’s Cry (Sunday Silence) mare Vasilissa who is herself a half-sister to five winners including Listed winner Tricolore Bleu (Stay Gold) being out of Group 3 winner and Irish 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) runner up Penkenna Princess (Pivotal).
“To have a horse like him, a stunning physical and Blue Diamond winner with an international outcross pedigree, stay in Victoria is a massive vote of confidence in the local industry,” said co-trainer Trent Busuttin. “Yulong are leading the pack, setting the standard of new development in the Victorian industry.”
Tagaloa will stand at Yulong Stud alongside Written Tycoon (Iglesia), Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), Grunt (O’Reilly) and Yulong Prince (Gimmethegreenlight), with fees to be announced this week.
