Multiple Group One winner Verry Elleegant’s little brother Affluential could be in line for a jumping career as he gets ready to make his Victorian debut on Thursday.
The five-year-old son of Zed was purchased out of Grangewilliam Stud’s 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $140,000 by bloodstock agent John Chalmers on behalf of owner Bob Peters.
He has had nine starts in Western Australia for two placings, and the decision was made to try him in Victoria before a decision was made on whether the gelding’s future lay over fences.
His family has already shown an aptitude for jumping, with his Group-performed brother Verry Flash having won two of his five hurdle starts to date, and was fourth in the Waikato Hurdle (4200m) last year.
Affluential has joined the Pakenham barn of John Leek and will have his first start for the stable over a mile at his new home track on Thursday.
"This fellow is quite immature and he needed time," Peters told Racing.com. "He may not have a ton of ability so we might end up putting him over the hurdles.
"I've never had one (jumper) before. I've sold a few that have gone on to become good hurdlers, so it would be a first for us.
"I'd be surprised if he could win first-up, but he'll get back - that's his style. He gets back and runs on a bit, so we'll see what happens."
Meanwhile Verry Elleegant is currently overdue to give birth to a Sea The Stars foal in France, but her part-owner Brae Sokolski said connections are not overly worried.
"She's still in waiting and she's now three weeks overdue," he said. "I was in contact late last week and at that point, she wasn't even that close, but they are not concerned, so I am not concerned."
There will be one more chapter to the family story as the final foal of Opulence was purchased by Sokolski and a few regular partners for $260,000 as a yearling last year at Karaka.
"Chris (Waller, trainer) is very buoyant about the horse," Sokolski said of the two-year-old named So Suave. "He is actually more forward than Chris expected and he thought he might even get him to a jumpout but he went shin sore last week, so we turned him out. But he's a horse that we're very hopeful of."