Pioneer Racing are thrilled to have purchased Calagogo the strapping 4yo son of Doyen. He is a horse full of promise with a very bright career ahead of him, he has the size and scope as well as the pedigree to be a very smart staying chaser in the future and looks the type to win plenty of races along the way before he embarks chasing. Calagogo has already demonstrated his high level of ability placing in both his bumper runs so far despite showing his greenness and inexperience against older horses when he was last seen finishing a staying on 2nd at Limerick on heavy ground to a horse who has been sold for a reported €150,000 since that race. While the 3rd horse on the day who was a further 13 lengths behind Calagogo came into the race with a big reputation and strongly fancied having finished 2nd in its three previous bumpers which provides a very solid line of form which is only further bolstered by the horse who finished 4th in the same race going out and winning a bumper on its next run under a hands and heels ride, it is also worth mentioning that the horse in 5th trained by Henry De Bromhead was the winner of a bumper on its previous run only to be demoted to second in the Stewards Room after the race.

Calagogo is a horse who has the added bonus of qualifying for the Red Mills Auction Series races which are worth a minimum of €20,000 each and the final being worth €75,000, we will touch on this more later. In Calagogo’s two races so far he has shown he can cope with ease in the ground which means he is a horse that is perfect for a campaign during the Winter months as well as the spring time, he can also be seen staying on very strongly in his races so far over 2 mile which Gordon has stated have been over a trip a lot shorter than ideal for the horse and only ran in them as there were a lack of suitable longer distance bumpers available at the time, yet the horses class stood out to be able to still place in both races and showing marked improvement from his first and second run by over turning the form with one horse by over 18 lengths, Gordon has also informed us that he has improved once again for that run and is strengthening away all the time while continuing to fill out his huge frame at over 17 hands. He is a horse we have been trying to secure for some time with his previous owners who buy to sell in no hurry to sell him due to their belief that this horse will prove to be a very high calibre horse through his career especially once sent over obstacles at his optimum trip. One of the main conditions of the sale was that he remained in Gordon’s yard, and Gordon is very bullish about the belief he has in this horse who is still considered to be only a baby in horse terms at just 4yo and says the best is certainly yet to come and that he is really looking forward to him going over obstacles when the time comes down the line over distances from 2m4f to 3m, Gordon has told us that Calagogo schools excellent over jumps and is very slick over them also for a horse his size which leaves us very excited and hoping for big things from this horse in the near future.

The sire of Calagogo is the Group 1 winning Doyen who has an exceptional record with his jumps progeny which includes Battleoverdoyen, Andy Dufresne, Beacon Edge and a horse close to the team at Pioneer Racing Rapid Escape with plenty more to come as he continues to receive strong books of national hunt mares since becoming solely a jumps sire More can be viewed here: https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/569100/doyen/progeny

The dam of Calagogo Bluebell Line won over 1m4f on the flat and has already shown herself to be a quality broodmare as Calagogo is the half brother to the 7 time winning (including listed) and high class dual purpose mare Toe the Line (rated over 100 on the flat and 131 over jumps) and also to 5 time winning gelding Line Out (rated 136 over jumps) Whilst the ill fated Harrison Line was highly regarded and sadly never got the chance to show his full potential on the track.

Gordon has told us he expects this horse to keep improving with age as he continues to fill out and strengthen further and that a step up in trip will see him at his optimum as his big frame and staying pedigree would suggest and can easily be seen in his runs to date with him doing his best work at the finish in each of his races. As mentioned above his previous 2 runs over 2 miles were on the sharp side for him and Gordon has now entered him in a 2m3f Bumper at Thurles on the 24th January and he believes he is capable of picking a bumper up over the extended trip. He is one you would have no issues sending over hurdles as he has schooled excellent at home and is the perfect type of horse that you could target the Red Mills Auction Series with as the final is over 2m4f. The final will take place at The renowned Punchestown Festival in the Spring Time and it is great to have the option of going that route with him should Gordon decide too when we decide to go hurdling as the prize money on offer is exceptional in comparison to standard races.