By Brian Sheerin
Everyone needs that flagship horse. Be it a trainer, jockey or an owner, the common goal is to find a horse capable of competing on the big stage. Well, bloodstock agents are no different, and Martin Buick can now count Admiral De Vega (GB) as his first big-name acquisition.
Buick has been based with renowned bloodstock agent Hubie de Burgh for almost two years now and in Admiral De Vega, winner of the G3 Stockholms Stora Pris in Sweden last weekend, he has his first headline horse.
The success is made extra special for Buick, the son of former champion Scandinavian rider Walter and brother to the reigning Champion jockey William, given the success was achieved in a part of the world that means so much to the Norwegian native.
Buick said, “It is where we grew up and was a part of our life for a long time so, from that perspective, there's an element of proudness that comes with it. I am very lucky in that the first horse I have bought is now a Group winner so the only way from here is downhill, I guess!”
Admiral De Vega is trained by Annike Bye Hansen, a close family friend who is based at Øveroll racecourse in Norway. The gelding was sourced by Buick at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale in October 2021 for 47,000gns after fitting exactly the brief his owner Hans Sköld was looking for.
Buick explained, “The owner had enjoyed success with Lope De Vega (GB) before with General De Vega (Fr), a good sprinter who is also trained by Annike Bye Hansen, so the brief was to keep a look out to see if there were any by the sire that we liked. As soon as I sent videos across of Admiral De Vega, Hans and Annike really liked him.
“He was a raw horse and he was big but there was just something about him. He had lovely size and substance and looked like a nice, honest horse. He came well-recommended by Angus Gold, who Hubie is very close with from his previous employment with Sheikh Hamdan, so we had a bit of an inside track in that respect.”
Buick added, “He had been in training with Owen Burrows, who liked the horse but couldn't do too much with him because he was immature. We had good information and a good pedigree to work with. The cross between Lope De Vega and Dansili (GB) mares, which he is from, is a very good one. There's nearly 18% stakes winners to runners on that line, which is very impressive, and all these things feed into the selection process.”
Formerly the assistant racing manager to the Niarchos family, Buick has quickly established himself on the sale circuit and shared hopes of growing the list of clients in the coming months and years.
He said, “I've been with Hubie since August 2021, so it's coming up towards two years now. It's been great and I have been learning every day. With this horse now and a couple of others, I am finally getting a bit of a track record, which is important. It takes a while to establish yourself and get up and running so it's good to finally have that big winner.
“I'm employed by Hubie and help out with his clients, from horse management, breeding, acquisitions privately and publicly, so it's widespread. When I joined Hubie, the aim was to bring some new business to the agency, which is slowly but surely gaining some traction.”
Admiral De Vega's stablemate Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}), who was sourced by Walter Buick, has been something of a revelation in Scandinavia by winning the Swedish Derby, Norwegian Derby and Stockholm Cup treble for the same owner.
On that connection, Buick commented, “It's obviously very cool to have a shared interest with Dad and he still works very hard in the industry as a race reader. He watches thousands of races for work and I consult with him for his opinion on a horse and ask him what he thought about any given performance. We've combined on two horses this year at the breeze-ups. We bought a Sioux Nation colt at the breeze-ups at Doncaster on behalf of a Swedish client and then we bought a Summer Front colt at Arqana for Hans Sköld. It's nice to combine, for sure.”
It's safe to say the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree and, judging by the big-race riches the young bloodstock agent has already enjoyed back home in Scandinavia, it's safe to assume that it's only a matter of time before he secures a flagship winner in Britain or Ireland.
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