Phoenix offloads star juvenile Prague to emerging NSW stud Kia Ora

Phoenix Thoroughbreds has parted with one of its flagship Australian runners after leading juvenile Prague was sold to rising force Kia Ora Stud.

Prague, a dual Group 3 winner as a two-year-old for Phoenix and co-owner Aquis Farms, will resume racing in the colours of Kia Ora’s Ananda Krishnan, who will also race Farnan in his silks after he secured stallion rights to Phoenix’s Group 1 Golden Slipper winner this month.

The sale of Prague comes just days after Loving Gaby, a dual Group 1 winner for Phoenix, was retired after she was injured as part of her preparation for the A$15 million The Everest.

Two weeks ago, Phoenix declared it would be continuing to invest in Australian racing after stating its intention to exit Britain “with immediate effect”, but will now do so without two of its three big names from the previous season.

The beleaguered international bloodstock and racing group, which has been blocked from racing horses in France, continues to be in the spotlight after founder Amer Abdulaziz Salman was alleged to be a key money launderer for cryptocurrency scam OneCoin during a New York trial last year. Abdulaziz categorically denies the allegations.

Kia Ora Stud in New South Wales has quickly emerged as a major force in the procurement of colts as the operation attempts to establish itself as a stallion farm operating at the top level.

“This is a project that we’ve taken on and we want the right horses. Farnan had his second trial and he looks to have come back in very good shape and we’re very excited about his first start and it’s the same with Prague,” Kia Ora Stud’s bloodstock and breeding manager Shane Wright told ANZ Bloodstock News.

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