Why time is not on big-spending Joorabchian’s side in make-or-break season

There was an unexpected, jarring moment in the winner’s enclosure at Newmarket last week as Kevin Philippart de Foy, the principal trainer for the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation, prepared to discuss his win with Sovereign Spell in the opening race on Craven Stakes day.

The familiar “huddle” of reporters was ready to hear what might come next for the three-year-old, but first, the trainer had a question of his own: was anyone there to report for the Racing Post? Amo Racing and the British turf’s trade paper, it seems, are not currently on speaking terms, for reasons best known to themselves.

Welcome back to the latest run of the compelling and highly unpredictable docudrama in which Joorabchian attempts to buy his way to racing’s top table. What better moment to catch up on some of the twists and turns in the story arc so far?

Back in 2024, long-time viewers will recall, Joorabchian launched a full-frontal assault on the Book 1 sale at Tattersalls in October, going toe-to-toe with the biggest beasts in the game to recruit 22.9m gns (£24m) of yearlings to race in Amo’s purple colours.

As last year drew to a close, the Amo team was once again busy at the autumn’s major sales, with a spend of 13.7m gns (£14.4m) at Tattersalls Book 1 and another £4m on 17 yearlings at Book 2 to ensure that Phillipart de Foy, in particular, was well-stocked for 2026.

Away from the sales ring, meanwhile, Joorabchian bought the historic Freemason Lodge stable in Newmarket in early 2025 following the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute; hired the recently retired Frankie Dettori as Amo’s global brand ambassador a few months later; and struck a ground-breaking deal with Apollo Global Management (AGM), one of the world’s biggest private equity investors, for a £40m cash injection secured against assets including both Amo’s racehorses and stables. Security for AGM’s loan, reportedly at an interest rate of 10.25%, was subsequently extended in February to include intellectual property and other property rights.

This all adds up to one of the most spectacular punts on racing and bloodstock of recent decades, one that racegoers and fans will be able to follow through various twists and turns as the 2026 season unfolds.

And as we rejoin the action, with the first Classics close at hand and Royal Ascot on the horizon, the signs are somewhat mixed before what could be a make-or-break campaign for the Amo operation.

This, after all, is the year when Joorabchian would have hoped to see some return on his epic spending spree at Tatts and elsewhere in late 2024. The 25 yearlings that Amo recruited at the Book 1 sale in October 2024 are now three-year-olds – members of the Classic generation.