Gabaldon , who earned global attention with an impressive runner-up finish at Royal Ascot, will race for a new partnership after Qatar Racing privately acquired a 50% stake in the colt following the July 17 Inglis Digital USA July Sale.
The colt’s original owner Soldi Stable will retain a 50% stake in the 2-year-old son of Gone Astray in an agreement that valued Gabaldon at $300,000 by bloodstock agent Fergus Galvin, who brokered the deal on behalf of Qatar Racing.
“Gabaldon’s performance at Ascot caught our eye,” Galvin said. “The team at Inglis helped us acquire him in partnership with the original owners. We bought a 2-year-old by Lope de Vega, Bongos, as well. With the quality of offerings Inglis Digital USA is bringing, we will be sure to continue to participate in future sales.”
Gabaldon faced world-class competition June 19 in the listed Windsor Castle Stakes, where he led the 27-horse field by as many as three lengths in the five-furlong race, then carried on well to finish second.
The colt’s international trip followed an exciting debut May 11, when he punched his ticket to Royal Ascot with a front-running 1 1/4-length score in the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Jose D’Angelo trained Gabaldon for his original owner, and the colt will remain with him after the transaction.
“Soldi Stable and Qatar Racing have reached an agreement in which Gabaldon, who has started a stellar campaign winning the Royal Palm Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and later a magnificent race in the Windsor Castle Stakes at the tough Royal Ascot meeting in June, will run in partnership,” said Alfonso Soued of Soldi Stable. “The goal is to race Gabaldon at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. In the meantime, his next race will be the Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. He will continue under the magnificent training of Jose F. D’Angelo, who has done so far a great work and believed in Gabaldon as a potential star since day one.”
Bred in Florida by Carol Ann Reitman, Susan Gannon, and Warren Miller, Gabaldon is out of the Value Plus mare Valuable Miss. His full brother, Valuable Breigh , is a seven-time winner from ages 2 to 4. Suker, a group 1 winner in Argentina, can be found in his extended family.
“Gabaldon is an impressive horse who has been proven internationally,” said Inglis Digital USA CEO Liza Hendriks. “We are thrilled for the connections who have been able to take advantage of a global marketplace and look forward to what the future holds for him.”
Gabaldon added another highlight to the inaugural Inglis Digital USA July Sale, which took place Wednesday afternoon. The gross finished at $756,259 with the addition of Gabaldon’s posthammer sale, and the average price finished at $32,881. Twenty-three of the 50 horses offered were sold. Fall-of-the-hammer sales were led by the multiple stakes-winning race mare Lucky Girl , who sold to Australia’s Kia Ora Stud for $235,000.
Entries for the Inglis Digital USA August Sale are open now, and will close July 29. The catalog will be released Aug. 2, and the horses will sell Aug. 7.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.