Amo Racing Targets 'Elusive' Group 1 Victory in 2022

A first top-level success in 2022 is the target for Amo Racing, whose season started in style with three winners from four runners March 26.

The curtain-raising SBK Brocklesby Conditions Stakes at Doncaster was won in emphatic style by Persian Force and there was further success at the Curragh, where Malex made a winning start before the well-backed Raadobarg burst through the crowd to win the Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire Handicap.

“It was really, really good,” said Emily Scott, racing manager for football agent Kia Joorabchian's operation. "We outdid our expectations and although you plan for that sort of result, we were very pleased with how things went."

“It was nice to start things off like that in Ireland too, winning one of the biggest premier handicaps of the year; we’re thrilled.”

Persian Force and Malex are two exciting prospects and although they will take things one step at a time, there is clearly an air of excitement surrounding the pair.

Speaking on Sunday, Scott said: “Malex has got a lot of class, you only have to look at yesterday to see that. Hopefully, he can show that he’s a stakes horse in time; we were delighted about Saturday. Persian Force’s attitude and straightforwardness shone at Doncaster. He traveled beautifully and when Rossa (Ryan) gave him a squeeze, as the commentator said, he went into 'turbo-mode'. Rossa said after the race you don’t know what’s under the bonnet and that run didn’t scratch the surface.”

Amo Racing had 49 winners in Britain and Ireland last year, including impressive Unibet Rockfel Stakes (G2) winner Hello You . They will have a 75-strong team of horses in 2022 spread across Britain, Ireland and the United States, and it is the latter two where they are targeting expansion.

“We have about ten horses in training in Ireland. It’s certainly somewhere we’re looking to have a few more based, all our horses are pre-trained in Ireland over the winter, so it makes sense for some of them to stay there and train," Scott said. “We’ll have up to ten in the US too, including some 2-year-olds that we purchased at the sales last year. We also have some that we sent over from England thinking it might suit them.”

Amo Racing have sent their horses abroad for lofty targets, with Go Bears Go  and Hello You making trips to last year’s Breeders' Cup (Go Bears Go was runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, G2T, and Hello You finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, G1T), and they will continue to chase prizes across the globe.

“We’re definitely looking to race wherever we can in the world for our horses to achieve their best. You want to go where the prize money is and with higher-rated horses, you’ve got a reason to go pot-hunting abroad," Scott said. "The elusive group 1 is the aim. We had two group 2 winners last year, so if any of our horses can win a group 1 that would achieve our goal."

“There’s no denying what we’ve put into racing from an investment point of view and the results are starting to show. It’s very exciting and hopefully, we can go on this year and better last season’s tally.”