When Harry Herbert, founder and chairman of Europe's most successful syndication company Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, established an Australian arm of his business nearly a decade ago, it was with one goal in mind - to win the country's greatest race, the Melbourne Cup.
Fast forward to 2021 and Highclere Australia goes into this year's $8 million feature with its best chance yet in Irish import Great House.
The Chris Waller-trained Great House secured his place in Tuesday's Cup with a tenacious victory in the Lexus Hotham Stakes, coming with a withering run from near last to defeat Mankayan and grabbing that all-important golden ticket in the process.
He becomes the fourth Highclere runner in the Melbourne Cup, with the Sir Michael Stoutetrained Distinction Highclere's best result so far when sixth in 2004.
"It was such an exciting win on Saturday and this horse just keeps getting better with every run," Herbert said.
"We always knew that he would continue to improve and we thought that the Melbourne Cup might come up too soon this year, but he has certainly earned his place in this year's race.
"It is a great result for a tremendous group of Highclere owners - they are based all over the world and many of them have had numerous horses in Australia and the UK with Highclere. Our vision is to give small groups of owners the chance to target the biggest races in the world with top-class horses and Great House is an example of that vision becoming a reality."
Great House boasts a regal pedigree, and not just because he is by the legendary stallion Galileo.
In fact, he descends from blue hen Allegretta on both sides of his pedigree, with the mare - who appears as his third dam - responsible for producing Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Urban Sea, who herself produced Galileo and Sea The Stars.
It is one of the world's most prolific families.
The then-colt began his career with Donnacha O'Brien, the brother of two-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Joseph who also landed this year's Cox Plate.
However, a quirk of timing ensured that he was born on December 27, five days before the official start of the northern hemisphere season in 2017, meaning that he would age prematurely under the Irish rules of racing.
"With a pedigree like his, as a son of Galileo from the family of Galileo and coming from a prolific Coolmore family, the dream would always be to win the Derby or a Classic race with him," Herbert explained.
"Unfortunately, because of when he was born, it meant that he would be ineligible for those races unless he wanted to contest a Derby when he was only a two-year-old. While that may have put others off, it made us more excited about him as a prospect for Australia."
Having won a maiden over a mile and a half from two runs in Ireland, Great House was offered at the first ever online sale conducted by Tattersalls, the famous 250-year-old English thoroughbred auction house.
"We had looked at buying him before he was offered for sale, but when Coolmore put him into the online auction, I knew that we had to do what we could to get him," Herbert recalled.
"Trying to navigate the online bidding process was a different experience - I know it has become more commonplace down in Australia, but it is still a new phenomenon here.
"I knew I wanted to strike late for him and I had seen the price go up to 165,000 guineas, so I waited until five seconds to go and then entered a bid for 170,000 guineas. In my haste, though, I hadn't pressed confirm! Luckily, Coolmore had bought him back and so I entered negotiations and we landed him for 175,000 guineas or about AUD$330,000.
"We were considering leaving him with Donnacha with one eye on eventually bringing him to Australia for the Melbourne Cup but he became a private trainer for Coolmore and couldn't take outside horses. We knew then we had to get him down to Australia as quickly as we could, which we did in October last year."
Already, Great House has earned almost $700,000 from just 15 starts, including wins in the Group 3 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) and the $300,000 Group 3 Lexus Hotham Stakes (2500m).
He also finished fifth in both the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2400m).
"We knew that anything he managed to do this spring would just be a bonus, because he is a horse that will be better both physically and mentally in 12 months," Herbert said.
"Even compared to the start of this year, he has matured substantially. In his first Australian preparation, he would sweat up badly before his races, he would overrace and hang in, he had talent but he didn't know how to be a racehorse. While he is far better now, he still doesn't do everything right and I can only imagine what another 12 months will do for him."
Herbert believes that the owners of Great House, which include Sir Winston Churchill's grandchildren Sir Nicholas Soames and Lady Charlotte Peel as well as former VRC chair Amanda Elliott, have an exciting 2022 ahead.
"I can't wait to see what this horse does next year," he said. "I believe that his best is before him and he is with the right trainer in Chris Waller to ensure that he turns up in these big races season after season.
“With horses like Durston, Hint Of Stars and Olympic Theatre also set to fly the Highclere flag over the coming years, as well as youngsters like Armageddon and Korolev, it is a very exciting time for Highclere Australia."
Highclere Australia Release
