Irish St Leger winner Voleuse De Coeurs will be aimed at the Melbourne Cup after New Zealand bloodstock agent Paul Moroney secured the mare in a surprise deal on Wednesday.
Voleuse De Coeurs’ Cup price was slashed to $17 from $34 after the announcement she would leave Dermot Weld to be trained by Moroney’s brother Mike Moroney, who is based at Flemington.
The mare will be flown to Newmarket for her quarantine and is expected to arrive in Australia on October 19.
Paul Moroney would not confirm the identity of her new owners but told the Irish Times he had tried to buy Voleuse De Coeurs before her six-length win in the St Leger on September 15.
“The deal has been done,” Moroney said.
“The buyer is not wishing to be disclosed at this stage, but she will be transferred to my brother, Mike Moroney and will be entered into quarantine under Mike’s name.
“I’m rapt we’ve been able to pull the deal off. We’ve been chasing her even before the Irish St Leger but there was a minor hiccup which has now been sorted.”
The daughter of Teofilo had not been in contention for the Melbourne Cup when owned by Lady O’Reilly, with a trip to France for the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp on October 27th the proposed end-of-season target.
All roads now lead towards the worlds richest handicap.
“All we are looking at at this stage is the Melbourne Cup there have been no plans made as yet about running her before then,” Moroney said.
“She’s a very good staying mare and still has a good few years left on a racecourse before she becomes a broodmare.”
Weld, who won the Melbourne Cup with Vintage Crop in 1993 and Media Puzzle in 2002, expressed his disappointment at the departure of Voleuse De Coeurs.
“She’s a very high-class filly and it was a great performance in the Irish St Leger,” he said.
“She’s a good stayer with speed. She was a lovely filly to train and we are sad to lose her.”
