Archo Nacho springs surprise Poseidon win
Flemington was also the scene for another sire to earn a first-crop stakes winner yesterday, as Archo Nacho provided Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy) with a breakthrough black type success from his one and only southern hemisphere-bred crop in the Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m).
Taking on much more fancied rivals, the Matt Laurie-trained Archo Nacho ($13), who broke his maiden at Werribee in June, stole a march along the fence in the straight course contest, opening up a margin which was enough to see off the closing I Am Unstoppable (I Am Invincible) ($7) at the line, with the gelding posting a half-length victory.
The gap back to the third-placed King’s Gambit (I Am Invincible), who was sent off the $2.90 favourite, was a further length and a quarter, with Mexico (Capitalist) coming home fourth, four and a half lengths from the winner.
A winner of the Phoenix Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) in Ireland, Sioux Nation covered 54 mares at a fee of $17,600 (inc GST) when shuttling from Coolmore Stud to Swettenham Stud in 2019, claiming five winners from just nine runners with his first two-year-olds last season.
Laurie said Archo Nacho would now be set for the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) before returning to Flemington for the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on November 4.
However, the three-year-old could have been destined for a different path, with Laurie, who purchased Archo Nacho for just $10,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale, revealing he had the horse ‘all but sold’ to Hong Kong.
“He showed a lot right from the beginning. I only bought this bloke because I had a half-brother to him, and he showed a bit of pace and was a little bit mad, but I happened to pass this guy at the weanling sales and thought, ‘why not?’,” Laurie said.
“He was a bit small. We left him in the paddock, and when we got him going it was evident that he had a good turn of foot. To watch what’s unfolded is a massive thrill.
“I had him sold to Hong Kong, and at the last minute, Kate, my partner, and I decided to hold tight. We just thought there was more in store for this horse, and clearly there is.
“He’s a family owned horse; the kids just love him to bits; he’s named after our youngest son, so it is exciting.”
Archo Nacho (3 g Sioux Nation – Jackpot Queen by Not A Single Doubt) is the sixth foal out of four-time juvenile winner Jackpot Queen.
Laurie trained Jackpot Queen’s third foal, Jackpot Legend (Nostradamus), to a maiden win before selling him on Inglis Digital for $17,000.
Jackpot Queen’s two-year-old colt by Starcraft (Soviet Star) was purchased for $60,000 by Matthew Dale at this year’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale. The mare is due to foal to Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) in October.
Sioux Nation, for whom Archo Nacho was his 12th individual stakes winner overall, stood the 2023 season at Coolmore in Ireland for a fee of €17,500 (approx. AU$29,039).