July 3 2015
Hasselhoof, impressive winner of his two starts, is being kept for racing in NZ through a massive syndication deal.
A group of high-profile Kiwi owners has paid more than $1 million for boom galloper Hasselhoof in what trainer Donna Logan describes as a brilliant result for the New Zealand racing industry.
Logan said her phone never stopped ringing after the horse won his second race in spectacular style at Ruakaka last Saturday, and the offers got so high the horse looked certain to be lost overseas.
That was until Logan fielded a call from Auckland enthusiast Berri Schroder floating the idea of syndicating the horse instead of seeing him join the drain of our best horses overseas.
Schroder, former co-owner of Melbourne Cup winner Brew, suggested tweeting the idea to 50 prospective buyers but, in the end, it never came to that as one person after another put up their hands.
Sir Patrick Hogan, who stands Hasselhoof's sire Tavistock at his Cambridge Stud, was one of the first in, followed by Jim and Anne Gibbs and Ashley Goodwin, part-owners of Logan's superstar Volkstok'n'barrell.
"I asked all my stable clients first and also approached Sir Peter Vela as he sold me the horse originally for $14,000, and he was keen."
Hasselhoof's breeder, Henrietta, Dowager Duchess of Bedford, came in, as did successful owners Bob Emery and Gerald Shand, Gary Hannan, Shayne Heape, Matamata's Wealleans Bloodstock and Schroder himself.
"It's a brilliant, brilliant result for the industry," Logan said. "We lose too many good horses out of the country but we need something to fly the flag for our racing.
"I think he's a potential Melbourne Cup horse and why should we have to sell something like that? ”
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This “ potential Melbourne Cup horse ” took his record to 6 wins from 6 starts by early 2016, gaining a large fan club, then had a crack at Australia. Home for a spell after 2 flops in mediocre Sydney fields then 5 more failures in NZ before an appearance in last Boxing Day’s stewards report from Ellerslie:
“ HASSELHOOF (O Bosson) – Commenced to over race near the 1700 metres, racing ungenerously when being restrained to avoid the heels of CONSENSUS, then continuing to over race through the middle stages. A post-race veterinary inspection including an endoscopic examination confirmed the gelding to have bled and as such is now subject to the mandatory three month stand down from racing with a veterinary clearance required prior to trialling or racing again. “
With 6 wins from 13 starts now and just $168,977.25 in earnings, Hasselpoof has a long way to go to repay the $1 million plus.