One of the best three year-olds in North America last year, More Than Ready entire Verrazano will stay in work in 2014 and has been switched to the Ballydoyle stables of Aidan O’Brien.
Winner of the Group I Wood Memorial Stakes and Group I Haskell Invitational for leading US trainer Todd Pletcher, Verrazano has not been seen since finishing third in the Group I Cigar Mile on November 30.
“It makes sense for Verrazano to move to Europe as he has achieved so much already here,” Pletcher commented.
“The owners [Magnier, Tabor and Smith] love to have their best horses run at Royal Ascot and a win there would be of great benefit to his stallion career.”
Being by More Than Ready from a daughter of Giant’s Causeway would certainly give cause for optimism that Verrazano might enjoy the turf given both sires have produced numerous Group I winners on the grass.
Dermot Ryan, manager of Ashford Stud, said, “Being the best son of More Than Ready, who is doing so well as a sire in Australia, we feel that a European campaign would raise his profile when the time comes for him to shuttle there.”
