Schabau, a 3yo son of former German Derby winner Pastorius has made his case as
an emerging staying 3yo in Germany winning his last two starts by a combined
total of 14 lengths."I'm thrilled to confirm the purchase of our first European acquisition in Schabau," said Hedge.
"Schabau is a lightly raced 3yo trained by leading German trainer Markus Klug and is a horse that looks like he has the right profile to adjust to our racing pattern here in Australia and make a lovely stayer."
Dual Melbourne Cup winning trainer Robert Hickmott is delighted with the acquisition.
"When Suman showed me the video of Schabau I was instantly drawn to the horse and just had to have him," said Hickmott. "I have had good experience training Northern Hemisphere bred horses and have a pretty good handle on the attributes they need and from what I can see with Schabau he has the action, high cruising speed, and turn of foot required to succeed in Australia, I'm rapped to be training him."
Hedge feels the purchase of Schabau reflects the need to look outside of Australia to source quality stayers.
"I think it's very apparent that in Australia we're great at producing precocious 2yo's and high quality sprinters but it is just as clear that the best staying bloodlines are sourced from Europe, with Germany becoming more and more a factor," he said.
"We have seen horses like Protectionist and Almandin come over and succeed at the highest level here and we are very hopeful that Schabau can come to Australia and make a real impression on our staying ranks."
Schabau will enter German quarantine in the next fortnight and is expected to arrive in Australia in early October.
The overseas acquisition is expected to be the first of many for Suman Hedge Bloodstock.
"We have a taste for it now and the interest from clients is so strong that we will look to be much more active in this sector moving forward," said Hedge.
