Several high profile studs are jostling to secure the services of glamour three year old Pierro after it was announced over the weekend that the Lonhro colt would be retired.
Pierro winning the WFA Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart
The Gai Waterhouse trained Pierro was gallant in defeat when second to Sacred Falls on a heavy track in last Saturday’s Group 1 $2m BMW Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Randwick.
Under 57kg, Pierro failed to take the weight carrying record for a three old year away from the Bart Cummings trained Tontonan who lumped 56kg to victory in his Doncaster win in 1974.
With a value around the $40 million mark being touted for the five time Group 1 winner, Hunter Valley supremoes Arrowfield, Darley and Coolmore appear to be the front runners to secure the services of Pierro.
Owner Greg Kolivos and Waterhouse had the option of backing up Pierro this week in the Group 1 $500,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick but at the end of the day decided that the colt had nothing more to prove.
Kolivos had resisted the temptation of formalising a stud career for Pierro until he had officially retired but will enter into serious negotiations with plenty of studs ready to make an offer.
“There have been a lot of rumours the horse was sold, but while he was racing there was never going to be a deal done, and no deal has been done,” Kolivos said.
“Now we’ve declared he’s retired, we’ll get on to it in the next few weeks.
“I don’t want to drag this on unnecessarily, but I also don’t want to rush into it.”
“All along we have said that we wouldn’t do any deals before he was retired and now that he is we will start to get serious about it.”
“Part of the decision of not doing a deal earlier was so that no one else owned the horse while he raced, we wanted to make the decisions where he went and wanted Gai Waterhouse to be his only trainer.
“The interest is very strong, we have to sit down now and work out what will be the best deal for the horse and his future.
Pierro is the third high profile racehorse to leave the Australian racing ranks following the announcement last week that champion mare Black Caviar has run her last race after chalking up her twenty-fifth win in the Group 1 $1m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 13.
While the mighty mare’s half-brother All Too Hard has already been put on Vinery Stud’s stallion roster to stand his first season at stud this coming Spring at a fee of $66,000.
All To Hard is set to resume his Autumn campaign on Saturday in the Group 1 $400,000 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick after being a race morning scratching from the Group 1 $500,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 2 after developing a temperature the night before.
Pierro, who is likely to stand his first season around the $70,000 mark, goes to the breeding barn after earning a tick over $4.5 million for his owners from eleven wins from fourteen starts, including five Group 1s.
Last Saturday was the colt’s first defeat in Sydney in his illustrious career which saw him win the 2012 two year old Triple Crown, the Golden Slipper, the Sires Produce and the Champagne Stakes.
Pierro resumed in the Autumn winning against the three year olds in the Group 2 $200,000 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on March 2 before winning twice at Group 1 level at weight for age in the $350,000 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) and the $400,000 The Daily Telegraph George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill.
