Tiberian (FR)

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NEWS / HORSE RACING
Buying a Cup horse - without heartbreak

BY BRUCE CLARK - @SNOWYCLARK
4 hours ago Horse Racing
Melbourne Cup hopeful Tiberian wins at Saint-Cloud
It is only a day or so after the heartbreaking news of the loss of Melbourne Cup runner-up Heartbreak City had reached Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock’s Darren Dance.
And proving that life goes on and the dreams still flicker, the recently bought Tiberian wins a group 3 at Saint-Cloud in France.
That horse is a story in itself but Tiberian will carry the now ubiquitous ATB fluorescent yellow colours in this year’s Cup trying to go one better than Heartbreak City.

And Dance is keen to explain how this all happens.
“We have a formula to identify potential Cups horses, those with the right attributes as we see them, then we try and buy them,” Dance said.
“I’d say 80% of the doors we knock on are rejected, we understand most owners once they have found a good horse, they want to contest good races and don’t normally sell,” Dance said.
But the Tiberian deal was different -  but then not too dissimilar from doing the Heartbreak City deal - via bloodstock agent Chris Blomeley.
It was Blomeley’s job to make the approach to the owners of Tiberian, a horse well sourced for the ATB team. It simply was –  would they be interested in selling half the horse and name your price.”
The answer was yes and something around seven figures and Dance and Blomeley did the deal.
“I said to Chris ‘get them to sign’.  It wasn’t cheap but we aren’t tyre kickers, that’s the reputation we have in the UK, we don’t waste time.
“If I think the price is fair, I look at it as if I was selling and think what I would be asking. If it’s too dear it’s a simple pass, if it’s fair we will pay,” Dance said.
“The owners (of Tiberian) harboured a dream to come to Australia, we were a good match, it’s gone better than we could have imagined, now for the Cup,” Dance said.
So the Tiberian deal was done in just five days, horse paid for and in two starts there was Sunday’s Group 2 Saint-Cloud win (qualifying it for the Melbourne Cup) and a first up Listed win, both times beating Godolphin’s favourite Talismatic).
Now Tiberian is already $34 at CrownBet to win the Cup.
His next start will be a Group 1, the Grand Prix Saint-Cloud in early July before a Melbourne Cup strategy being mapped out. The horse will race in Dance’s colours but with original trainer Alain Couetil in charge, just as Tony Martin prepared Heartbreak City for original owners.
“Our approach is to buy privately and race with the original owners. I’ve got experience of bringing horses to race in Australia in these races and that’s something we can put on the table and when we find owners who want to run in the Melbourne Cup we can say we have been there, done that,” Dance said.
Before Heartbreak City was Jakkalberry, third in the 2012 Cup, Dandino ran fifth in 2013, Seismoss ninth in 2014.
“It takes away the fear factor when we try to form a partnership. They’ve seen Dunaden and Americain win the Cup, if they want the experience to tick the Cup off racing’s bucket list we can provide that,” Dance said.
“And from my client's point of view, we can go and see our horse race in Europe to give them that experience of racing at Longchamp, Dubai, Royal Ascot or The Curragh, sometimes it’s not as much a case of how much you win, but the experience on both sides,” Dance said.
Now to the horse Tiberian himself, by a very little known sire called Tiberius Caeser, a grander name than he should be allowed to carry.
He raced 25 times, won his first start, a Group 3 at Bremen in Germany then raced in a raft of black type races and changed stables before “winning” a claiming race for women only jockeys at Chantilly then being disqualified in 2007.
Off to stud, the son of Zietan, was basically being used as a ‘teaser pony”, said Dance.
“I think he gets one mare a year to keep him interested, that’s it,” Dance said.
He has thrown only one other winner Magnentius, who one a single race at a track called Dieppe.
But Tiberian remains an entire himself and if he can win a Group 1 he becomes a far more valuable proposition after racing even if only carrying the blood of Tiberius Caeser.
But not forgotten by Dance in an eventful week is his partners in Heartbreak city from trainer Martin to the larger than life owners headed by Aidan Shiels.
“Part of what we do is to enjoy the time we spend together and we will never forget the nine month journey this horse took us on.
“I remember the night we were going to meet them, not knowing what sort of people they would be, but as you’d imagine we just wouldn’t swap the time with them and hopefully that’s the same with the Tiberian team.
“And we really needed that win on the weekend to pick us up after what happened with Heartbreak City.”