At Wagga today a 2YO named Zelago should be winning.
And when he does, there may be a couple of peeps in this world kicking themselves.
Zelago (Delago Deluxe-Ze Choice) is on debut for trainer Barb Joseph and her co-training sons Paul and Matt.
You would need to watch a lot of video of trials to see a juvenile trial better than this bloke recently at Canberra.
He looks fast and very strong and certainly city grade – perhaps even beyond that.
But while all that is great pending news for the 2YO gelding’s owners who paid the king’s ransom of just $20,000 for him at the Inglis Classic Sale last year.
That’s because it seems this big boy was a deliberate planned mating.
A group of blokes called the Delago Deluxe Syndicate, purchased his mother, Ze Choice back in 2013 when she was in foal to All American.
Ze Choice is by Redoute’s Choice from the well bred mare Zeparty.
The syndicate bought her to presumably help along their South African Gr 1 winning import, called Delago Deluxe, knowing this mare’s winning family would make a great match for their new boy.
They were giving him a helping hand in the barn and so paid $35,000 to secure the mare.
She gave birth to her All American baby, a filly they sold for $30,000. She never won a race but placed a few times.
However, when she visited her ‘arranged marriage’ with Delago Deluxe, she gave birth to another filly now named Miss Delago Rose. The syndicate sold her at the Melbourne Inglis Yearling Sale for $80,000.
Then she went back to her beau, and this time the union produced yet another filly which sold at the same Melbourne Yearling Sale for $42,000.
That’s already a good profit margin.
So again she went back to the same well, Delago Deluxe, and in 2016 Zelago was born. He was the first colt from her born.
But then something happened. The syndicate put Ze Choice up for sale and she went for the paltry sum of $9,000 at a Broodmare Sale in the middle of 2017.
They still had the baby, but decided to sell him at that 2018 Inglis Classic Sale and, well, they no longer have this bloke nor his mum.
Now, to be fair, they made a good ROI – remember they purchased the mare in foal for $35,000 and with all the subsequent sales, their net return was $181,000!
But if I’m right about Zelago, they may well have let this foal and the mare go too soon.
Zelago races in the first at Wagga – let’s all tune in and watch with renewed interest.