2020 Cox Plate (2040m) winner Sir Dragonet looks likely to start a career at stud in time for the 2021 breeding season, after he completes an autumn campaign in Australia.
Sir Dragonet was already a Group 3 winner in the UK before coming to Australia for the Maher & Eustace stable, where he triumphed in the Group 1 Cox Plate and no doubt stamped himself ready for a big career at stud.
Sir Dragonet won the Cox Plate earlier today 👀 pic.twitter.com/FZ51hfMlvQ
— ODDSbible Racing (@ODDSbibleRacing) October 24, 2020
Ciaron Maher, speaking on Peter Moody’s Moody On The Mic podcast, said that a potential trip overseas to Hong Kong is unlikely with the galloper’s potential value at stud, and also COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
“He won’t go for a lengthy spell. Now he is a Group 1 weight-for-age winner he does have a value at stud so that may be an option for him come June July next year.
“Hong Kong is still on agenda. I put him in there just in case,” he said.
“I am probably leaning toward not going but it is there as an option.”
“I just heard that if I was to go over there, I would have to do two-week quarantine over there and then even after the two weeks I could only go from the hotel room to the course (and then) back to the hotel room,” he said.
“Then have to do another two weeks when I got back, so that all sounds like a lot of depression to me so that has put a lot of negative doubt on it.”
It appears that Sir Dragonet will have a swansong autumn campaign locally, hoping to add a few more Group 1s to his CV before heading to stud.
“He will have a couple of easy weeks. He will stay in work ticking over, he will go to Australian Cup, Queen Elizabeth and you never know, he may be looking to get some back underneath him [breeding career] after that,” Maher said.
