Liam Howley liked his Gr.1 ATC Derby (2400m) runner-up Virtuous Circle (NZ) (Almanzor) so much as a yearling that he doubled down the next season and bought his brother.
The trainer surely got the first part right as Virtuous Circle heads into the spring as one of the more-likely four-year-olds to give the spring majors a shake. But now the time has come to test his second purchase.
Howley went to $360,000 to secure Virtuous Circle as a yearling and then spent a further $220,000 12 months later to purchase his brother, who is now known as El Poder Del Sol (NZ)(which translates to power of the sun).
The Almanzor colt is set to make his debut in Saturday’s 1400-metre Two-Year-Old Plate at Flemington, where Howley expects he will make his mark, at least if only physically.
“I think he’s more of a genuine staying style of horse,” Howley said of the juvenile. “As a yearling, he was a much bigger model (than Virtuous Circle).
“With Virtuous Circle, I was always mindful that he was taking time to develop, whereas this bloke, he’s a bit longer and stronger through the back.
“Without saying he’s a better model, he’s a bigger, stronger model.”
Howley did not take Virtuous Circle to the spring Derby in Melbourne, preferring to wait for the autumn to test him at 2400m, but he said El Poder Del Sol shapes differently.
“He gives me a feel that he’s a real natural stayer,” he said. “He’s going to see that mile-and-a-half (2400m) a lot earlier. He’s more like a Victoria Derby horse. He stands over a bit more ground and has a bit more leg under him, but in saying that, there are a lot of similarities.
“They are dead ringers in the head and a lot of his idiosyncrasies are identical. (He’s) very laidback, like his brother and very easy to train.”
As for Virtuous Circle, who has been spelling ever since his brave second in the Gr.1 ATC Derby (2400m) at Randwick, Howley said he is ready to return to work before the end of the month.
“I’ve just taken the rug off him yesterday actually and he looked terrific,” Howley reported. “He’ll probably only have another week now that it’s starting to cool right off, so we’ll look to bring him back in next week.
“All up, it’s been about eight weeks (in the paddock), so (it was) a good spell and (I’m) looking forward to the spring.
“We’ll let him dictate the path, but hopefully he comes back in with a bit more natural improvement. A bit more, probably just physical maturity to be there earlier and not have to nurse him would be nice.
“He’s put on some good condition and thickened up across his back, so hopefully we’re punching around in some good races come springtime.”
