Aguiar Recalls Discovery of Railway Winner Go Bears Go

It is becoming widely acknowledged around the sales circuit that Robson Aguiar has something of a gift for finding smart horses.

In only a handful of years the Brazilian has jumped from a breeze-up rider and vendor of a couple of cheaply bought individuals of his own to almost the go-to man for 2-year-old winners.

His latest trick was to discover Go Bears Go , David Loughnane's Norfolk Stakes (G2) runner-up who made handsome amends on June 26 in the GAIN Railway Stakes (G2), as a £50,000 (US$64,629) purchase made on instant instinct at last year's Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

"I didn't see him in the stable but when I was in the parade ring outside, he caught my eye," Aguiar explains. "When he passed by, I saw him walk, saw his body, didn't even see his pedigree. Just on the way he walked, I went to buy him.

"I've bought a lot of good horses that way; if you study the pedigree too much you let a lot of good horses go."

When it turned out he had a member of the second crop of Kodi Bear , for whom Go Bears Go was a first-ever group winner, Aguiar was more than happy.

"Every sire coming from Kodiac  will be good sires," he says. "I like the line, Kodiac's by Danehill ; they're hard, they put their heads down, and do whatever they can."

While Go Bears Go had been doing all the right things in pre-training at Aguiar's Mullingar base and impressed at the Craven Breeze-Up, there was a hitch and Aguiar had to rely on the trust he had built up with Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing before he was sold for 150,000 guineas (US$216,473) through agent Alex Elliott.

Aguiar says: "He breezed well in the day but he was a little bit stiff afterwards; he couldn't pass the vet, and I told Kia, 'Don't worry, buy him, he's a good horse'—and he's shown it. I'm very pleased for him, David and Rossa Ryan (jockey).

"Whether they breeze well or they don't, I know what they are because I've had them at home, I've worked them over four, five, six furlongs, and I've schooled them in the stalls. I knew he'd be fine. I advised everyone who came into the yard to buy him. I told them he was a Norfolk Stakes horse.

"Some people just looked at me, maybe they thought, 'This man is mad,' but like last year I'd said (Norfolk winner) The Lir Jet  was a good horse. I told a few lads to buy Perfect Power  (the Norfolk winner consigned by Aguiar's regular employers Tally-Ho Stud) in Doncaster as well. Some listen, some don't. That's the game.

"Kia listened, so it's good. Some people trust you and they do it."

Aguiar is also addressing a broader point relating to breeze-up sales, and he believes buyers should be a little more forgiving about what are still very young horses.

"It's what I find hard," he says. "You get them ready, breeze them, they've got to make them fast, and the next day most of them will be stiff, and people will fail them. But if you race a horse on fast ground, the next day, you trot them and they'll be stiff or sore. They're athletes, they have to be stiff.

"Then sometimes when they're sold, a horse worth like 200,000, they'll want to pay 60,000, and I don't think that's fair. You put in a lot of work, and I think all the breeze-up lads feel the same about it.

"If they're too fast, then they won't hold on and they'll go slower in the last fractions. If you make them too fast, you can damage them. I think that needs to change a bit."

Group 1 Hunting 

The Aguiar alumni include the aforementioned The Lir Jet, Betway Sweet Solera (G3) winner Star of Emaraaty , and Juddmonte Middle Park (G1) third Summer Sands .

Go Bears Go, whose ownership is shared between Amo Racing and Peter Waney, is among a plentiful group that could bring him an elusive winner at the highest level.

"It's not easy to do that but I'm trying very hard," Aguiar says with a laugh.

"I think it's possible we can do something before the end of the year. We've got nice horses like (Albany, G3 runner-up) Hello You ; she's only had the second race in her career, and there's a lot of improvement to come.

"Great Max  (third in the Chesham) is a very good horse for the future, Forca Brasil will come back soon; there's Thunder Love, Oscula , and Beautiful Sunshine—I don't think she was the same horse at Ascot and has plenty of potential—and there are still some horses that haven't run yet that could be interesting."

Aguiar modestly insists that this stream of winners has not been built by his nous, but from those who have helped him.

"Amo has given me big support in the past year with COVID-19," he said. "I put more money in horses; I was worried as I had nearly 40, 45 horses, and so I'm also very grateful to people like Nick Bradley, Ontoawinner, George Boughey, Nick Bell, Roger O'Callaghan, Kevin Ryan. A lot of other clients have supported me. On your own, you go nowhere.

"When it comes to doing a job, I work the sales, I try my best, and I have a very good team at home to get the horses ready; we decide what we do with them. No one person has made it, and if you have a good relationship with everyone, it works well."