‘He’ll suit the racing over there’ - Group 1-winning sire set for Indonesian stallion role after €50,000 Arqana transfer

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Charm Spirit is set for pastures new after fetching €50,000 at the Arqana Summer Sale. The 15-year-old son of Invincible Spirit is the sire of 49 stakes performers, most notably Commonwealth and July Cup hero Shaquille. 

He was secured by Eoin Sullivan, bloodstock agent and racing manager to Indonesian owner-breeder Iman Hartono. 

“He’ll go to Indonesia for the same client I bought Galileo Gold for a couple of years ago,” said Sullivan. “He’s been very happy with Galileo Gold so we thought we’d try to add this guy. 

“To be honest, we’d been thinking about trying to buy Charm Spirit privately and when I called Alban [de Mieulle, Haras du Grand Courgeon] he told me he was in the sale. We said we’d take our chances and see what happened here in the ring. 

“We probably had another bid for him if I needed to because the client really likes the horse. Physically he’s a grand individual and I think he’ll suit the racing over there. His progeny seem to be quite genuine types and anything hardy with a bit of speed tends to go okay over there.” 

Charm Spirit won three Group 1s during a sensational three-year-old season under the care of Freddy Head. He landed the Prix Jean Prat, Prix du Moulin and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, beating subsequent champion sire Night Of Thunder in the latter triumph.

Eoin Sullivan: "We’d been thinking about trying to buy Charm Spirit privately"Credit: Alisha Meeder

He began his second career in 2015 and initially spent alternate years between Tweenhills in Gloucestershire and the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval in Normandy. 

In 2021 he relocated to Haras du Logis Saint Germain, before moving to his most recent home, Haras du Grand Courgeon, last year. 

Charm Spirit has also enjoyed his share of success during his shuttle stints to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand. His notable southern hemisphere performers are headed by Globe, winner of last year’s Might And Power Stakes. 

Expanding on what the future has in store for Charm Spirit, Sullivan said: “He’s going to a good spot and the stallions there generally live very long lives. I don’t know if it’s the sun, but those guys really look after them. Galileo Gold is doing great over there so hopefully we’ll be lucky with this one too. 

“He’ll be a private stallion up to a point, and then Mr Hartono will let some of his friends come in, if they have nice mares. The standard of breeding in Indonesia is improving and we’ve been importing mares from Europe for a number of years now. 

“What Mr Hartono really wants to do is improve the overall quality and bring everyone along with him. He’ll ship out one of his existing stallions to make space for Charm Spirit. We have a nice son of Holy Roman Emperor over there [Thunder Eclipse] and he’ll probably go to one of the other farms outside central Java.”

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