Joorabchian: Patience Key in Building Racing Operation

Kia Joorabchian's fast-growing Amo Racing USA operation will aim for its first Breeders' Cup victory with six runners, including three who account for the owner's placings to date in the World Championships. Those accomplished returning runners include recent Flying Five Stakes (G1) winner Arizona Blaze (GB), who finished second in last year's Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) and is entered in this year's Turf Sprint (G1T); group 2 winner Valiant Force, a Kentucky-bred who finished second in the 2023 Juvenile Turf Sprint and is entered as an also-eligible on dirt in the Sprint (G1); and United States-based grade 3 winner Hill Road, who finished third in last year's Juvenile (G1) on dirt and is entered in this year's Turf (G1T). That trio will be joined by group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) in the Turf Sprint and group 3-placed Cathedral (GB) in the Filly & Mare Turf (G1T). They co-own an additional entrant, Outfielder, with Jayson Werth and trainer Wesley Ward; the Juvenile Turf (G1T) contender has won both his U.S. starts and finished fourth in the Prix Morny (G1) in France. "They'll all compete. So we are here," Joorabchian said on a cloudless morning Oct. 30 on the Del Mar backstretch. "We're here with a strong group, and we're going to get stronger and stronger." Joorabchian said he's committed to building a top international racing and breeding operation and fully understands it will require patience. He already has claimed some of Europe's top race prizes with horses such as Kentucky-bred King of Steel, winner of the 2023 Champion Stakes (G1). In pointing out how these operations build over time, he noted that King of Steel's first foals will be on the ground next year. "Our operation needs five or six years. Look, we're growing," Joorabchian said. "The team has done incredibly. We now have two yards in Newmarket, and we still are significantly far behind operations like Coolmore, Juddmonte Farm, the Aga Khan, and Godolphin. They've taken tens of years to build to that. They're 35 or 40 years ahead of us." Joorabchian, who advises professional soccer players, noted that just as top professional teams take time to come together, building a racing operation also takes time. "We are investing now for the future," Joorabchian said. "We're investing with our stallions, with our mares. We're also investing in yearlings and bloodstock. We are making investments and know we need to wait five or six years before those investments come to fruition. "It takes time and that is the most important thing we need to understand. Patience is part of it. Joorabchian said his plans continue to include racing and breeding in the United States. "Our U.S. operation is growing and it's getting bigger and bigger," Joorabchian said. "I think we're up to about 50 horses now. We just plan to keep growing. We have a small breeding operation here in terms of our mares. We have a few mares now as the stallions here are very attractive to us."