Despite the lofty Gr 1 wins by several of the Godolphin babies over the past 6 months, all of whom are now 3YOs, those in the know at the Blue Army campsite reckon a non Gr 1 winner in TASSORT is the best of them.
Sadly, however, we wont get that confirmed until the back end of this year as the expected wonder colt has been operated upon.
Tassort (Brazen Beau-Essaouira) is in hospital care as you read this after he underwent epiglottis entrapment surgery which has ruled him out of the spring.
What is this surgery, you as? Well, the epiglottis is a flap of cartilage at the root of the tongue, which is depressed during swallowing to cover the opening of the windpipe.
If it’s not working properly, a racehorse can’t get enough air. A Godolphin spokesman said of the supremely gifted colt following the operation, “We expect him to make a full recovery and look forward to seeing him return to racing in the early stages of the autumn.”
Now, what makes this news is that punters can bet on upcoming 3YO races in the knowledge that he will NOT be there to knock you off.
And make no mistake about this.
Tassort is potentially the most expensive young racehorse in Australia.
He has astonishing wheels and can just accelerate at will when asked. We’ve seen that from his only two starts to date.
On debut he sat behind the pace before shouldering his way between runners, eventually extending away to win the $150,000 Golden Gift by over 5 lengths.
This, even though he didn’t really look like a 2YO prospect – he has always promised to be a better older horse.
At his next start, which was 3 months later, he sat last of the 6 in the Gr 2 Silver Slipper Stakes and when produced, did come with a wet sail to wind up 2nd behind the enigmatic flying machine Time To Reign.
Tassort went amiss shortly afterwards and has been filling out ever since – that was until his throat problem was detected.
As a valuable horse, his huge physique, combined with his extraordinary almost Luskin Star-like acceleration, are dwarfed by his pedigree.
His mother Essaouira, was a 2 x city juvenile winner and is by Exceed And Excel.
As a broodmare she has been out of this world good, leaving us the former Champion 3YO Filly of Australia in ALIZEE (winner of 3 x Gr 1 races and $2.2million); ASTERN (winner of the Gr 1 Golden Rose and $1.1million), as well as the very well performed stakes placed MOGADOR.
The least performed sibling, a mare named MARRAKESH, did win 3 races and was city placed on a few occasions.
She has a filly foal on the ground by Medaglia D’or and is in foal to I Am Invincible, which should extend the quality of this family even further.
Tassort was a $15 chance in 2019 Golden Rose odds and $21 in Caulfield Guineas odds.
