Almanzor’s son romps home

Argo has raced creditably in strong maiden company during his brief career, so it was no surprise to see him breakthrough in style at Te Aroha.

The Tony Pike-trained three-year-old was given a positive ride by apprentice Sam McNab from the outside gate and strolled home to be out on his own by three lengths at the end of 1400 metres.

Our homebred son of resident stallion Almanzor had previously finished third behind subsequent Group 1 star Well Written when resuming and then ran fourth to Miss Fladgate, who has since also won again.

Those performances saw him sent out favourite and he gave supporters no concerns, jumping well to sit outside the leader and quickly put the issue beyond doubt when he took control 350 metres from home.

Argo’s dam is the late Snitzel mare Untamed Diamond, who was a quality performer and won on seven occasions up to 1200 metres, including success in the Listed Waikato Sprint.

She joined our broodmare band after we purchased her for A$200,000 at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale, but sadly Argo was her last foal.

He was sold at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale for $80,000 and we remained in the ownership group, which includes purchaser Pike and former Group 1-winning jockey Leith Innes.

‍