Tim Rowe

Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan’s decision to make a late change to the slot agreement surrounding Bella Nipotina may have cost his new employers an extra slice of the $20 million Everest pie, but it sets the scene for more disciplined times for the wagering giant.

Group 3 winner Let’sbefrankbaby, a mare by Frankel conceived in the United Kingdom, foaled in Australia and owned in South Africa, has sold for more than A$1 million in the United States.

Australian-owned Ramatuelle has sold for the second-highest price of US$5.1 million at Fasig-Tipton’s elite breeding stock sale in America just days after being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup meeting.

Boom colt Storm Boy, the subject of a deal worth tens of millions of dollars after his brilliant Magic Millions victory in January, is set to join Ballydoyle in Ireland for a European summer campaign.

In this week’s Rowe On Monday, Tim Rowe catches up with some of the Australian contingent in the US for Kentucky's breeding stock sales, examines the Atishu gamble and reflects on Denise Martin's New Zealand purchases.

The Golden Gift for two-year-olds and The Warra at Kembla Grange appear to have been handed Group 3 status with immediate effect for the first time, but the latest changes to the New South Wales Pattern are unlikely to be recognised by international authorities.