Kia Joorabchian: Football agent pays £8m for three horses at Newmarket sales

Football agent Kia Joorabchian splashed out more than £8m on three new signings – at racehorse sales in Newmarket.

He secured the trio, all offspring of the legendary Frankel, for his Amo Racing team.

Joorabchian paid 4.4m guineas (£4.6m) – the second most expensive purchase of a yearling at public auction in Europe – at Tattersalls Book 1 Sale.

He also snapped up a filly who is a full sister to Alpinista, winner of the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, for 2.5m guineas (£2.6m).

And Joorabchian, whose football clients have included ex-Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and former Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho, bought a son of Atone for 1.1m guineas (£1.15m).

“It is very difficult to buy such mares because the likes of Juddmonte, Coolmore, Shadwell, all the big guys own all the big mares,” Joorabchian said.

“So we have to come out here and hope that what we are buying in terms of pedigrees will make us competitive.

“It is very hard to buy [such pedigrees] after the yearling stage – once a filly has won a Group One you are in very high prices, so you have got to try to get them earlier and hope that they go on well.”

He was accompanied by bloodstock agent Alex Elliott and Nottingham Forest FC owner Evangelos Marinakis.

“All the teams select the best horse and it is who blinks first, and fair play to Kia he certainly did not blink,” said Elliott.

“Kia is ready for the operation to prove itself at the next echelon and that is where we are trying to get to and that is why we need to get into these families.

“The fact that these horses are staying here is huge for British racing and we should all be huge cheerleaders for it.”

Al Naamah fetched the highest price of 5m guineas in 2013 at the Tattersalls auction, which is Europe’s leading sale of yearlings – horses aged between one and two years who are too young to race.

Racehorse prices are still listed in the old currency of guineas – which equates to £1.05 for every guinea.