Given the dearth of high-class, middle-distance horses being bred and raised in Australia, Peter and Paul Snowden went on an international scouting mission to try to fill the void.
They identified a handful of horses they thought would be a good fit locally, buying eight, and so far their experiment has reaped rewards with Huetor a Group 1 winner of the Doomben Cup, while Old Flame tasted Group 2 success during the Melbourne spring carnival.
“They’re the only two to have raced so far out of the eight,” Peter Snowden said.
“They have been good acquisitions for the stable. The sort of horses we’re looking for are those middle-distance to staying type horses that we don’t have a lot of here.
“We’re buying these horses with low ratings, they might come here with a 72 rating and have already won a couple of races from a handful of starts, so they fit into what we’re looking for really well.”
The latest member of the stable’s overseas buying spree to make its Australian debut is Touristic, who steps out in the Merry Christmas Members Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
A four-year-old son of the great Frankel, Touristic raced eight times in France for two wins over 1800m and 1900m.
Touristic has had two Sydney barrier trials but Snowden expects to learn a lot more on Saturday when the horse is tested under local race conditions.
“We don’t know much about him, only from trackwork, and he’s an OK worker but not a brilliant trackworker,” Snowden said.
“Watching his races, he’s a horse who grinds. He gets up on speed and he keeps whacking away.
“He can run out a good 2000-metres, so we’re probably looking for him a bit later on, but it would be good to see him run a big race first-up.”
Huetor and Old Flame both won their respective Australian debuts, Huetor a metropolitan-class Saturday race at Newcastle and Old Flame a midweek race in Melbourne.
Kerrin Mcevoy partners Touristic from barrier six with the gelding marked at $12 in early markets.
