Olympic Glory makes a strong start in Europe
New Group 1 sire Olympic Glory paraded in magnificent order at the 2018 Arrowfield Stallion Open House (PHOTO: Darren Tindale)
If aspirations can be expressed in a name, then first season sire Olympic Glory is aiming for nowhere except the top of the mountain.
On that basis, even loftier goals might be ascribed to his 12th individual winner in Europe, the William Haggas-trained colt Astronaut who won his third start over 5 furlongs at Sandown on 14 September.
It was a tidy performance summarised by the Racing Post thus: “Held up, good progress on wide outside halfway, led over 1f out, shaken up and stayed on well final furlong.”
That success came two days after Olympic Glory’s fifth winner in France, the colt Inde who led all the way over 1400 metres at Longchamp.
Olympic Glory is now fifth on the First Season Sires’ table in France and fourth on the equivalent Irish list.
This all serves as an encouraging preview for the owners and trainers who purchased 62 of the first 69 Olympic Glory yearlings offered at Australian sales earlier this year.
Averaging five times Olympic Glory’s opening fee, those yearlings will race from the stables of, for example, Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, Peter & Paul Snowden, John O’Shea, Gerald Ryan, David Payne, Paul Perry in New South Wales, and Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young and Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra in Victoria.
