Joorabchian dreaming of Derby glory with Ancient Egypt and Poker

Amo Racing may be in its infancy compared to the long and esteemed history of the Betfred Derby but the increasingly powerful operation has already made its mark on the Epsom Classic.

Ahead of the 247th running of the blue riband, Kia Joorabchian – Amo Racing’s founder – opened up about his love affair with the historic race, in which Ancient Egypt and Poker carry his colours this year.

The purple Amo silks have become a common sight since 2018, even more so since Mojo Star found only Adayar too good at Epsom in 2021.

Remarkably, it was only two years later that the imposing King Of Steel got to within half a length of Auguste Rodin.

Now Joorabchian hopes either Charlie Johnston’s Ancient Egypt or the 4,300,000 guinea purchase Poker, trained by Karl Burke, can go one better this weekend.

“First of all, the Derby is one of the most historic and most prestigious races in the world,” Joorabchian told the Press Association.

“For me, there are two Derbys, the Kentucky Derby and obviously the English Derby, that are just incredible races to watch. The Irish Derby follows right after then you get to the French Derby.

“But personally, growing up, through the years, the English Derby was something very close to my heart and the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting events.

“Just having a runner in the Derby was a dream.

“When Mojo Star went in as a runner in the Derby, that was like a dream and obviously that day he came second and it was a great thrill for us to have had a runner in the Derby with such a long-shot coming second.

“I guess it made us brave because when King Of Steel ran in the Derby he had not run as a three-year-old. He was supposed to run in the Dante but had a mishap in the stalls.

“He was very unfortunate not to have won it that day. It was a fantastic race, fantastic performance by King of Steel and for me that’s the real element of romance with the Derby.

“To have two runners in the Derby now is just something incredible, it’s an honour to run in the Derby. It really is an honour.

“It’s a race you want to compete in, and I know the likes of the Coolmores and Godolphins and Juddmontes always have three, four, five runners in the Derbys, and they are very competitive, but in two years that we’ve run, we were beaten by two very good horses. It’s incredible just to be there now with two horses.”

Had it not been for Mojo Star, Joorabchian admits Amo might not be in the position they are now.

“I mean we were considerably smaller then. I think that was one of the moments of Amo that we said ‘you know what we can do this’. We can compete and we really can,” he said.

“I actually even remember being in the sales ring when we purchased Mojo, two or three lots before was Hurricane Lane. And everyone looked at him, and they said ‘they aren’t gonna make it’. Hurricane Lane looked so crooked. Mojo came through and he didn’t look the absolute picture either.

“Of course, they both then turned out to be wonderful horses. Hurricane Lane was a superior horse and was absolutely magnificent. We were unfortunate because Godolphin had another good horse (Adayar).

“Funnily enough, on that day Rossa Ryan was riding for us and he was injured, we had to find a jockey and oddly enough, that jockey was David Egan (now retained). It’s funny how the racing gods sort of go 360 degrees.”

King Of Steel may have been an outsider in the Derby but on his next start won the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot and returned to Berkshire to win the Champion Stakes, in what was Frankie Dettori’s final ride in Britain.

“Mojo made us brave. I said ‘this is gonna run in the Derby’. After what happened in the Dante, I called up Roger (Varian, trainer) and said, ‘we’re going straight to the Derby’,” said Joorabchian.

“Roger said he was very happy with his training and he was all for it. There was no pushback whatsoever. That’s one thing to Roger Varian’s credit, in that moment, he’s not afraid to take a risk.

“And that made King Of Steel a different horse after that because obviously coming second in the Derby, then he went on to run all these big races, and then we had that final Champions Day, incredible, incredible moment with him and that Champions Day was the turning point for Amo and its operation.

“We didn’t have that many horses, and sometimes when you don’t have the number of horses, that one horse of yours, you throw him in to take the chance.”

Amo has famously spent millions at recent sales but Joorabchian is playing the long game.

He said: “Seventy per cent of our two-year-olds haven’t run yet. God willing, there will be potential Derby contenders next year. We have a wonderful horse, he did an incredible debut (second) at Thirsk, he’s called Pikachu.

“Charlie Johnston’s idea was run him in a maiden and then the Chesham. It’s an idea. We are going to plan him very carefully because we think he’s a very, very good horse. He could be a potential Derby horse.”

A son of Frankel, Ancient Egypt has genuine claims – claims done no harm by the fact he will break from the most successful stall in Derby history.

“He likes good ground. I think he goes on any ground, but the Derby is going to be a race of stamina. They are still babies, they are still three-year-olds. I would not like to see it too soft,” said Joorabchian.

“When that draw came out, the first message came from my sons – ‘stall 10 the most successful stall in Derby history’. I just wrote back ‘we don’t win the race in the stalls’. It’s great to have stall number 10. It’s great to have the honour of having a decorated position.

“Sometimes everything can be bad luck, you have a great horse and everything could be bad. I’m glad that it’s a lucky stall.”

Poker will always have to carry the weight of his purchase price, but although he is still a maiden after three runs, his owner can see a bright future ahead.

“You know, whatever you spend in sales, once they are in the box they are worth the same amount of money,” he said.

“So the price tag is not relevant, but I absolutely love this horse and I think that every single member of my team loves this horse.

“It’s clear there were many, many, many people in the sales that love that horse. Now I think we probably ran him in the wrong race to start his career. Karl will be the first one to say that.

“His last run was the most promising run that showed what we actually bought him to be, which is a potential Derby, long-distance horse. He looks like he wants a mile and a half all day long.

“I think he’s going to run a cracking race, but I think whatever happens, his best moments are going to come September and October (time) of this year.”