THAI billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who has been the owner of Leicester City FC since 2010, has been revealed as the purchaser of five Royal Ascot runners at Monday night's Goffs London Sale.
Srivaddhanaprabha bought Wednesday's Sandringham Handicap prospect Tisbutadream (£400,000) from David Elsworth's stable, and Twin Star (£260,000), the Sheila Lavery-trained gelding who runs in Thursday's King George V Handicap.
He also purchased three horses who will line up on Friday, namely Jessica Harrington's Albany Stakes hopeful Whitefountainfairy (£300,000), the Michael O'Callaghan-trained Queen's Vase contender Night Of Glory (£340,000), and Straight Right (£450,000), who will tackle the Commonwealth Cup for trainer Christophe Ferland.
Srivaddhanaprabha bought half of the 12 horses who changed hands at the sale, for he also added the broodmare Baldovina, the dam of Royal Ascot winner Ceiling Kitty. Baldovina was offered by Betfair founder Andrew Black of Chasemore Farm who sold her with a filly foal by Commonwealth Cup winner Muhaarar and carrying a foal by Le Havre.
When Baldovina's £300,000 sale was added to Srivaddhanaprabha's purchases, his total spend came to £2,050,000.
Head of the King Power Group, which operates duty free shops, his horses run in the name of Abudiencia Co Ltd, and include the Andrew Balding-trained Beat The Bank, who has been declared for Wednesday's Group 3 Jersey Stakes.
Quoted in European Bloodstock News, Alastair Donald, a bloodstock agent who acted for Srivaddhanaprabha, said of his client: "He's looking to build up his stable, and was attracted by the Royal Ascot element of this sale. He likes horses in general, is very keen on polo, and spends a lot of time in Britain - he's enjoyed being at this sale and getting involved. His purchases will stay with their trainers for this week and then decisions will be made about their futures."
HONG KONG
Hong Kong buyers swooped for the top two lots at Monday's sale.
The highest price of the session was £900,000 for the three-year-old colt Lockheed, runner-up in the German 2000 Guineas for trainer William Haggas and the China Racing Club last month. The grey son of Exceed And Excel also finished third behind Churchill and Mehmas in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh last September.
Also bound for Hong Kong is the Joseph Murphy-trained Born To Play, who finished second to Homesman in the Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh in May. The three-year-old son of Born To Sea was a 20,000gns yearling buy at Tattersalls and raced in the colours of his trainer before being sold this evening for £500,000.
Other high-priced Irish-consigned lots included the Michael Halford-trained two-year-old colt Yulong Warrior. Still a maiden after two promising starts, the Street Cry colt was bought by Dubai trainer Satish Seemar for £360,000.
Yuesheng Zhang, the Chinese owner in whose colours Yulong Warrior raced, also owned recent Fairyhouse winner Whitefountainfairy, mentioned above.
Night Of Glory, a recent three-year-old Curragh maiden winner for trainer Michael O’Callaghan, was another of the Leicester FC chairman's purchases. This Sea The Stars gelding was sold for £340,000, having been bought as a yearling for €60,000 at Tattersalls Ireland.
Trainer Ed Dunlop paid £250,000 for Jamie Osborne’s recent two-year-old winning filly Armum, a half-sister to last year’s Royal Ascot and Flying Childers winner Ardad.
Of the 19 lots offered, 12 sold for an aggregate of just over £4.5 million and an average price of £377,083.
FOLLOW ALL THE ROYAL ASCOT NEWS THIS WEEK ON THEIRISHFIELD.IE
SHARING OPTIONS: