Singo’s $800k return to track

Temptation has proved too much for John Singleton, who dipped his toe back into horse ownership on Thursday, buying a horse for Gai Waterhouse at the Magic Millions months after selling out of the sport.

Singleton sold his Strawberry Hill Stud breeding empire last year to Coolmore for $30m and his breeding stock for more than $15m, saying he “feels sorry for those old blokes at the races looking grumpy”.

He put himself back in the fold with an $800,000 Wootton Bassett filly on the Gold Coast.

With Singleton revealing regret at his sale, Waterhouse said she was given a brief by the former ad man to find him a Magic Millions horse.

“I think John, until the day he dies, will always be buying,” she said.

“He just loves the sport, he just loves it. He’s just a truly great enthusiast.”

With a number of Wootton Bassett progeny selling for big money, Waterhouse said the filly out of Magic Millions 3YO Guineas winner Champagne Cuddles would be perfect for Singleton.

“‘Singo’ wanted to put his finger in the water and he said you’ve got one horse to buy,” she said.

“He gave me the brief and that was it. The only horse for Singo.

“He said, ‘I only want one horse and if you like it, buy it’. I do like her, she’s very feminine and she moves very freely.”

Kiwi powerhouse Te Akau Racing is hoping the apple does not fall far from the tree after it went to a sale-topping $2.1m to buy the first progeny from its former super mare Avantage at the Magic Millions.

Te Akau supremo David Ellis sold the nine-time Group 1 winner online for $NZ4.1m in 2021 to Coolmore, who got more than half of that back on Thursday after the Wootton Bassett filly topped the charts.