Things at Toward Reward HQ haven’t slowed since our last blog post! Here’s the latest on all things TR!
Shuriken
It is with mixed emotions that we announce that Shuriken has been sold for a seven-figure sum! After his enormous run in the Sandown Guineas, we started receiving offers from agents to wealthy Hong Kong connections to purchase the horse. And after four votes, his owners accepted a seven-figure offer, and Shuriken began his pre-purchase vetting. The vetting process was long and carried on over Christmas and into 2023. He was finally officially sold earlier this month.
We will forever be grateful for Shuriken and the ride he took us on over the Spring. He was a $15,000 purchase, and his efforts on track and sale resulted in over $1.15 million for his connections. To honour Shuriken, we have created a new webpage titled Our Champions.
Shuriken on the way to the barriers prior to the running of the The Amanda Elliott at Flemington Racecourse on November 05, 2022 in Flemington, Australia. (Photo by George Sal/Racing Photos)
Our Valley Star
Our Valley Star is now fully subscribed! A big welcome to those who have become Toward Reward owners for the first time and a huge thank you to all his owners for supporting our small business!
Our Valley Star’s new owners won’t be waiting long to see him in action, with his first jump out for Toward Reward scheduled for this Friday morning! Pat won’t be asking him to do a great deal, but he does want to see his work with the horse’s headgear translate under a bit more pressure. Pat’s been playing around with gear since the horse arrived at Ballarat, and he’s now settling nicely into his work. We’re excited to see what he will achieve this preparation!
Paulartes
We thought we might see Paulartes make her race debut last preparation, so we were disappointed to see her head back out to the paddock. The stable thought she needed a little more time and boy, they were right! After a nice, long end-of-Spring to Summer spell, she returned to work a different horse. She has now fully furnished into a beautiful filly, and we look forward to her stepping out to the races this preparation.
Paulartes commenced her pre-training with Ben O’Farrell just over three weeks ago and has pleased Ben and his team in everything she has done. We get great feedback from anyone who jumps on board, and we are hopeful to have a very nice filly on our hands with Paulartes.
I’m Airborne
I’m Airborne recently had a date with the vet for the ultimate gear change after reports from the stable that he wasn’t concentrating on his work this preparation. Like Paulartes, he has been pre-training for about three weeks. He’ll now have a quiet week before picking up where he left off.
I’m Airborne looks like a proper 2YO, and we’re hoping to get him to a jump out with a little left in the tank this preparation. The benefit of a northern hemisphere sire is that we could see his first crop of 2YOs performing at the highest level before they were ready to do the same in Australia. The first of his local progeny won a Listed race on Cox Plate Day and looked to have plenty of improvement to come. We’re excited to see what I’m Airborne is capable of, having heard nothing but praise from the stable.
Sales season has well and truly begun, with the Magic Millions run and done and the Karaka sale taking place over the weekend in New Zealand. Matt and our bloodstock agent, Lenny Russo, will be heading to the Classic Sale in Sydney and the Premier Sale in Melbourne next month to find our next stable stars. We will be looking to secure a handful of nice types in the $50K-100K range, meaning 2.5% shares will be in the $1,800-$3,500 range, with all ongoing costs included to the end of April.
To register your interest in our next horses, please complete the form on our Ownership Opportunities page. We can’t wait to welcome more owners to the Toward Reward community!
