Navajo Peak and the Gosford Cup have become the focus for Rosehill trainer David Payne after he said goodbye to Montefilia at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale on Thursday.
The master trainer took time to give the four-time group 1 winning mare a hug after she brought $3.4 million from Yulong, which beat Japan’s Northern Farm in the sales ring. It was a Chairman’s Sale record that lasted less than an hour, with Nimalee sold to Coolmore for $3.6 million later in the night.
David Payne is confident his good week can continue with Navajo Peak in Saturday’s Gosford Cup. Credit: Getty
“She is the best filly I have had in Australia and it was a good result for the owners. We will be sad to see her go,” Payne said. “I have been at this for a long time and when I was in South Africa I sold one for $US4 million, but money doesn’t make it any easier.
“She still has some racing in her and we will have to wait and see what happens.”
Whether that will be under Payne’s care will be worked out in the next month, with Yulong keen to aim Montefilia at the Caulfield Cup, where she was a luckless fourth last year.
“A fantastic race mare, and probably at this stage we’ll keep her in work, get her set for the spring and see how we go,” Yulong chief operating officer Sam Fairgray said. “Mr Zhang wants to build a broodmare band with these elite mares and she’s an elite racehorse who will eventually join the broodmare band, so it’s fantastic for the farm and our stallions.
“We haven’t decided yet [on a trainer]. We’ll just wait until after the sale and just see which races we’ll aim for and work it out from there. The likelihood is obviously Melbourne races she’ll likely target.”
Navajo Peak might be the next good one to come through the 75-year-old’s stable. He could get a first listed win over 2100m at Gosford on Saturday.
“He is the one racing at the moment, which makes him the important one, and he is racing well,” Payne said on Thursday night. “As a trainer, you’re always looking for the next horse.
“We have been really happy with him and, on a seven-day back-up, he is going to be very hard to beat with no weight on his back.”
It was always planned for the stayer to back up after he was brave a runner-up at Rosehill last week, sitting three-wide through. It was enough for punters to make him a $5 second favourite behind Diamil for the Gosford Cup.
“He had 57 kilos last week on a very heavy track and it will be a matter of how he comes through that run,” Payne said. “It is much different with only 53 for him, and I can see him getting a better run.
“He will able to be closer and he is very fit and strong.”
Meanwhile, Coolmore will choose between Wootton Bassett, Justify and Home Affairs for Nimalee’s first mating this year after Coolmore Australia’s Colm Santry was trusted to buy her on Thursday.
“She’s our pick of the sale physically,” Santry said. “She comes from a very, very deep pedigree, going back into Europe with a huge amount of group 1 winners and we can breed her to a lot of stallions on our doorstep.
“She can go to any of our stallions but, in time, I think our Golden Slipper winner Shinzo will be a great mating.”
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