Tony Pike’s powers of persuasion have come up short against the money on offer in Hong Kong.
The Cambridge trainer was keen to hold on to impressive debut winner Quantum Legend through his three-year-old campaign but has been unable to convince Hong Kong owner Kenneth Lau to leave him in New Zealand.
“Unfortunately, it looks like he is going to take him up there. The PP bonuses (for previously raced horses) are so attractive for the owners if they win in Class 3,” Pike said.
“We made a good case and the owner thought about it long and hard but, no, he’s heading up there.
“It’s a real shame and if he was a colt, it may have been a different story, but with the amount of prizemoney up there it’s pretty hard to try and convince him otherwise, so we’ll move on.”
Quantum Legend was offered by Kilgravin Lodge at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale where the son of Castelvecchio was knocked down to Waikato Bloodstock, on behalf of Lau, for $400,000.
From the family of multiple Group 1 winner and champion sire Redoute’s Choice, he had impressed at the trials before winning as a short-priced favourite at Te Rapa last month.