One look at a Frankel colt at a Sydney Easter yearling sale was enough for Robbie Laing to hunt out potential buyers.
With a reserve of $500,000, Laing took a gamble on the colt after he was passed in at auction for $475,000.
That 2016 purchase, named Frankel My Dear, makes his racetrack debut in the VRC Members Pavillion Handicap on Saturday.
Laing expected the colt to fetch considerably more that the reserve and began investigations soon after the colt left the sale ring.
“There was a problem with his off fore,” Laing said.
“It could have been bone, it could have been a callous or it could have been ligament but a soft tissue scan revealed he’d had a knock on his sesamoid.
“There was a little bit more bone than normal, but the suspensory was in the right spot and the ligaments were all okay.
“The reserve was $500,000, so we got him for that.”
Longtime clients Ray and Susie Montague took a share after Ray saw a show on Frankel’s trainer Henry Cecil on a flight home from London and wanted one of Frankel’s progeny.
Laing said Pakenham trainer Frankie Stockdale also has a small share after seeing the colt at the sale.
The trainer is expecting the 1000m trip to be too short on Saturday and will be happy providing the colt is hitting the line strongly.
He’s already contemplating the Caulfield Guineas with the three-year-old and the possibility of a Victoria Derby start.
“Frankel himself only won up to 2000 (metres) but this horse is steeped in stamina on the dam side,” Laing said.
“He’s not a nuggety sprinting type. He’s an elegant athletic sort of a horse.
“I’ve seen a couple of Frankel’s race, Darren Weir’s (New Horizons) and Chris Waller’s (Merovee) and this horse is a mirror image of Frankel.
“The good thing about him is we thought he was alright three months ago and every time I’ve recently put him down he’s been producing on the track.”
Frankel My Dear won a Cranbourne jumpot last month before pleasing his trainer in a grass gallop with older galloper Jaws Of Steel on Tuesday.
“He’s bred to stay but he’s got a good turn of foot and goes into the race very fit,” Laing said.
