Ghostwriter makes £2million Amo Racing transfer

Amo Racing strengthened their potential Royal Ascot hand when paying £2million to add Hardwicke Stakes entry Ghostwriter to their team.

The four-year-old won the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes as a juvenile and while he failed to get his head in front for owner Jeff Smith and trainer Clive Cox last term, he turned in a string of fine efforts in top company, including third-placed runs in the both the Eclipse and Juddmonte International.

Ghostwriter finished fourth in the Dubai Turf back in April and could step up to a mile and a half for the first time in Saturday’s Group Two in the colours of Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing outfit after changing hands at the Goffs London Sale.

Speaking at Kensington Palace Gardens, where the sale was held, Joorabchian told Nick Luck Daily: “To be honest, my son picked him out a little while ago and he was like ‘we’ve got to buy this’. He’s third favourite for the Hardwicke and I think he’s got a chance to go up to Group One level, so we’ll see.”

When asked if the Invincible Spirit colt will stay in training with Cox, Joorabchian added: “I don’t know Clive Cox but I’m sure we will meet him and we’ll see.

“At the moment I’m not buying horses to stay, I’m buying them to hopefully go into our own yard but this one, I don’t know yet because he’s done a good job with him so we will have a chat, Alex (Elliott, bloodstock agent) knows him a little bit better so I’ll get to meet him and see what we do after that.”

Amo’s name also appeared in conjunction with Nick Bell after Tycoon sold for £600,000. The three-year-old has won one of his three starts for John and Thady Gosden, most recently placing third in Listed company, and he is entered in Thursday’s Hampton Court Stakes.

The Andrew Balding-trained Tropical Storm, winner of the Westow Stakes last time and declared for Tuesday’s King Charles III Stakes, sold to Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock for £500,000, while Resolute Bloodstock paid £625,000 for Jersey Stakes contender Woodshauna, who was a Group Three winner last time out for Francis-Henri Graffard.