Having made waves at the sales in October, leading football agent/advisor Kia Joorabchian is showing no sign of slowing down in his drive to take his Amo Racing operation to the top.
An outlay of £24m on 25 yearlings made many in the industry sit up and take notice in the autumn. Fast forward to the December Mares’ Sale at Park Paddocks, and Kia has reached for the chequebook once again. The Ralph Beckett-trained filly You Got To Me was the focus of Joorabchian’s attention this time. The fee? An eye-popping 4.8 million Guineas (£5.08m). For context, that is the third highest price ever achieved at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. Quite the sum, but what is Kia getting for his money?
Pedigree and Performance
Sired by Nathaniel, who landed the Coral-Eclipse and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes during a glittering career, and out of the Listed-winning mare Brushing, You Got To Me looks the part on paper.
Raced only twice during her juvenile campaign, she kicked off with a win on the all-weather at Kempton before failing to handle the heavy ground in a Listed event at Newmarket. Despite that setback at HQ, Ralph Beckett clearly liked what he saw from the striking bay and aimed You Got To Me at the top prizes during her Classic campaign.
First time out at three, she earned valuable black type with a front-running success in the Lingfield Oaks Trial before finishing a respectable fourth in the big one at Epsom. She again just missed the frame in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, but her finest hour was just around the corner.
Sent to the Curragh for a second crack at a Classic in the Irish Oaks, You Got To Me overcame a strong Irish challenge, including runners from the yards of Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, Dermot Weld, and Willie Mullins. She rounded off 2024 with a close second in the Yorkshire Oaks before the 1m6f of the St Leger proved a step too far.
Set to Return at Four
Following those consistently excellent outings as a three-year-old, racing fans were eager to see You Got To Me at four. As displayed by Arc heroine Bluestocking, Beckett is adept at improving fillies and mares as they age and looks to have a potential replacement for his now-retired stable star.
Having splashed out such a monumental fee, Joorabchian could be forgiven for wrapping You Got To Me in cotton wool and sending her straight to the breeding sheds. Happily, there appears to be a decent chance that the star mare will tackle the season’s major prizes in 2025, with Joorabchian stating, “Obviously Ralph Beckett wants her back, and I said as long as he does not injure her, he can have her back!”.
A Quality Mare for his Growing Band of Stallions
In addition to her future prize money potential, You Got To Me may ultimately prove to be the ideal foil for Amo Racing’s growing band of stallions, including:
- King Of Steel – Son of Wootton Bassett who finished a close second in the Epsom Derby before winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot
- Persian Force – Speedily bred sort who followed up a second-place effort in the Coventry Stakes with a win in the July Stakes
- Bucanero Fuerte – Sharing a sire with King Of Steel, this six-furlong specialist produced a dazzling display to land the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes in 2023
Boasting increasing strength among horses in training and in the process of building a robust breeding operation, the purple silks of Amo Racing look well-placed to be a significant presence on British racecourses in the years to come. If Kia continues at this rate, it may not be long before he challenges the established order at the summit of the sport.
