Cover image courtesy of Grant Bloodstock
Written by Paul Vettise
Grant Bloodstock cast the net far and wide in its search for a top quality Melbourne spring carnival contender, and believes it has hooked a serious prospect in the form of the Hungarian Horse of the Year Nancho (Ger) (Tai Chi {Ger}).
Grant and his business partner Ken Lowe and shareholders have purchased Nancho, confident he has the quality mix of pedigree and performance to make his presence felt in the spring features.
The G1 Melbourne Cup is a primary target, depending on the horse’s progress, and German bloodlines have already proved their worth in the Flemington feature.
Steve Grant
Almandin (Ger), Fiorente (Ire) and Protectionist (Ger) are sons of Monsun (Ger) to have been successful there on the first Tuesday in November.
Nancho, whose grand-dam Nostalgia (Ger) is by Monsun, has won 11 of his 18 starts from 1200 to 2400 metres, including the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern at his last appearance in Germany.
Form franked
The form out of Nancho’s last-start Group 1 victory has been franked with the runner-up Manuela De Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) winning the G3 Pinnacle S. and then the G2 Lancashire Oaks at her next two starts in England.
Nancho, whose sire Tai Chi (Ger) is a Group 3-winning son of High Chaparral (Ire), was initially recommended to Grant by trainer Anthony Cummings via European contacts.
Watch: Nancho (Ger) win the G1 Grosser Prix von Bayern
“He approached us with a few horses and when I started looking at this one, he was of particular interest,” Grant said. “He’s a long, sleek type and a bit lighter in condition than our horses, we’re quite excited about the possibilities.
“He’s at Anthony’s stable and it was quite challenging to get him out here. Once we’d firmed things up to buy the horse things started to go wrong and the place he was at in Hungary wasn’t so good, so we sent him to Germany to get pre-trained.
“I wasn’t happy with the place there and when we tried to get him here we were back and forward with flights. We found a plane from Qatar so we drove him part of the way and then flew him part of the way for the flight to get him to Melbourne.
“People have said they hope he wins one of these big races because it will make a great movie.”
“People have said they hope he wins one of these big races because it will make a great movie.” –Steve Grant
Nacho is due to trial on August 8 and will have another trial before making his Australian debut in either the G2 Chelmsford S. or the Tramway S.
“From there, it’s another 14 days to the G1 George Main S. and the G2 Hill S., or the G1 Epsom H.,” Grant said.
“Usually what we’ve found with these sorts of horses is that they are more Cups’ horses in their second year. It will be interesting to see how this one shapes up.
“I’m confident that with Nancho and Anthony Cummings we have a serious shot at some of our big spring targets, and of course it’s the G1 Melbourne Cup we are looking at.
Anthony Cummings
“I’d love to see him in the G1 Cox Plate if he’s not ready to run in a Melbourne Cup, but we’ll see what happens. He’s won over 2400 metres and it depends how quickly he comes to hand. "
Nancho has proved himself to be versatile with success on all types of track conditions and his customary style is to race close to the pace.
“I feel I’ve got a decent chance of winning a big race in the spring with Nancho, hopefully it will be the Melbourne Cup,” Cummings said.
“He looks the right type of horse, with a superb race record which sees him fully-qualified for the Cup and likely to get a weight that will guarantee a start.
“Combine that with what looks like a Cup-winning pedigree to my eye, and a solid group of owners, it’s very exciting. Bring on the spring carnival.”
