Football super agent Kia Joorabchian was the biggest spender at the Tattersalls Book One sales on Tuesday when he paid £7 million for two Frankel fillies.
Joorabchian was standing in the auditorium with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis when he went to 4.4 million guineas (£4.62 million), the second-highest price ever paid at the Book One sale, for a Frankel filly out of Aljazzi.
Before his signature was barely dry on the docket, he had also scooped up a sister of Alpinista, the winner of the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, for 2.2 million guineas (£2.31 million).
Alex Elliott. Joorabchian’s racing agent, said: “I think you can say that his sights have been raised and he wants to compete at the top level. He knows you’ve got to buy them at the top level.
“All the top teams select the best horses, it’s just a case of who blinks first. Fair play to Kia and Mr Marinakis, they certainly didn’t blink.”
In all, Joorabchian – who famously orchestrated Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano’s 2006 transfers to West Ham – spent 10.4 million guineas on nine horses. At the end of day one, he was leading purchaser in terms of spend and numbers, leaving Irish and Middle Eastern heavyweights in the shade.
Joorabchian, whose horses run under the Amo Racing banner, had by far his highest-profile success when King of Steel won last year’s Champion Stakes under Frankie Dettori on his last ride before leaving for America.
With that horse sidelined this season, Amo has yet to enjoy such heady success this year but Joorabchian is very clearly upping the ante on his racing interests, particularly as both fillies have as much potential as broodmares further down the line as they do as racehorses.
