Tijuana flying the flag

Colt’s Queensland links

TIJUANA may be racing for Victorian stable and renowned racing dynasty Lindsay Park when he contests Saturday’s Group 1 Caulfield Guineas, but the reality is the colt is almost as Queensland as The Great Barrier Reef.

The leading Guineas contender was not only raised on a Queensland farm by breeders Eureka Stud, but the Sunshine State was where he was broken in.

He was sold at the Gold Coast Magic Millions and purchased by a Queenslander, Jarred Magnabosco whose Best Bloodstock company hit the headlines earlier this year when racing Queensland galloper Sacred Oath which was part-owned by cricket great Shane Warne.

“Tijuana might not be wearing the Queensland maroon on Saturday, but red is close enough,” Tijuana’s managing owner Magnabosco said.

“He’s flying the flag for all Queenslanders this Saturday.

“He was raised on a Queensland farm, broken in at Fenwick Farm (in the Gold Coast hinterland) by horse breaker Greg Bennett and purchased by a Queenslander.”

Tijuana, a winner of three from five including a last start victory in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley, is trained by brothers Ben and JD Hayes who are searching for their second Group 1 win as a training combo after Mr Brightside’s Doncaster win earlier this year. A $10 chance in Saturday’s Guineas, the journey of Tijuana started in innocuous fashion when he was passed in at the 2021 Gold Coast Magic Millions Sales.

Magnabosco takes up the story.

“I decided that 2021 was the right opportunity to dip my toe in and start building my own (bloodstock) brand and having my own book of horses,” Magnabosco said.

“I got together with (ex AFL star) Campbell Brown and the first horse we bought was Sacred Oath (part-owned by Shane Warne).

“I went to the 2021 Magic Millions sales and had quite a few people interested in buying shares in horses with me, it was my first year buying yearlings.

“I said to Ben Hayes, ‘let’s team up on a horse’. “We couldn’t land anything in the first couple of days and then this American Pharoah colt came up who had actually been passed in.

“The dam, Mexican Rose, had been a champion young sprinter in Singapore who had won a lot of races.

“We both had Tijuana on our list – the reserve price was $120,000.

“He looked like a real athlete and we knocked him down to $100,000 and shook hands with the guys from Eureka. “The rest is history.” Magnabosco and his clients own 55 per cent of Tijuana while Lindsay Park and their clients own 45 per cent – all are hoping it is a match made in heaven.