Argonaut

Article in Sporting Post :

Argonaut Relocated to Australia

Argonaut- an already distinguished 3yo import from SA - will be released from the quarantine station at Spotswood, just outside Melbourne, on Monday.
South Africa’s Equus Champion 2yo of the 2006-07 season, Argonaut has been purchased by Blue Gum Farm principal Philip Campbell in conjunction with a number of the stud’s clients.
Argonaut’s American owners Mr and Mrs Robert Muir have also remained as partners in the syndicate.Campbell says that the colt, who is by the Gr1-pl stakes winning Gone West horse Western Winter (USA), will not race until the spring and has the $US5m Gr1 Dubai Duty Free (1777m) at Nad Al Sheba in March of next year as his ultimate objective.
“He is a very big horse, who has a lot of scope to develop and mature, so we are not going to rush him,” says Campbell. “Also we want to allow him every opportunity to acclimatise, especially as he underwent a long period of quarantine leading up to his arrival in Australia.”
This involved Argonaut spending 60 days in quarantine in Capetown, a further 60 days in quarantine at Newmarket, in England, and another three weeks in quarantine at Spotswood.
“We haven’t finalised a trainer for him, at this stage, but there is no really hurry as far as that is concerned because he won’t be going into work until the middle of the year,” Campbell says. “He has shown he can handle a mile and we are going to wait and see which races will suit him best . . . whether they be over 1400m or 1600m or whether, possibly, we embark on a campaign aimed at the Cox Plate.
“But the race uppermost in my mind for Argonaut is the Dubai Duty Free on Dubai World Cup night in March of next year.
“That’s the race I would dearly like to win with him.”
It is an event Campbell has already enjoyed success in, for he is a member of the Elvstroem Syndicate which won the 2005 renewal of the Dubai Duty Free with the now Blue Gum Farm stallion Elvstroem.
Although he has raced only four times Argonaut, who is from the Del Sarto mare Aquasarto and a half-brother to the SA Gr1 winner Finest View, has started only 4 times but certainly seems to have the potential to replicate Elvstroem’s feat.
After winning over 1400m at Turffontein on his debut he finished a neck 2nd to the Aus-bred Seventh Rock in the Gr1 Gold Medallion (1200m) at Scottsville.
Argonaut then completed his racing year by easily winning the Gr1 Schweppes Golden Horseshoe (1400m) at Greyville and the Gr1 Meydan Premier’s Champion Stakes (1600m) at Clairwood in which he ran a sizzling 1min.34.48sec."

About 141 days in quarantine, ouch. Would be great to see him racing in Dubai.

With all the exports i think its going to be half the field with SA connections...Peg got a stiff task to defend the crown.

Just hope he lives up to the Aussies expectations