Gavin Cromwell has added Le Citadin to his County Meath team after a €230,000 Arqana Summer Sale purchase, with the trainer saying demand for elite National Hunt prospects is as strong as he can remember.
The City Light three-year-old was bought on behalf of the Furze Bush Syndicate, best known in Cromwell’s yard through the likes of Stumptown and Will The Wise. Le Citadin arrives with Flat experience already banked, having won twice in France at Angers and Nantes.
The move matters because Cromwell has been one of the most active major jumps trainers through the early-summer sales cycle, moving from the Goffs Arkle Sale to the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale and then Arqana. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News report, he felt he had not attacked last year’s market strongly enough and has adjusted this time.
Le Citadin adds juvenile hurdle depth
Le Citadin has already been schooled over hurdles, making him a clear juvenile hurdle project rather than a speculative store buy. Cromwell’s record gives that angle weight: he has won the Champion Hurdle with Espoir D’Allen and the Gold Cup with Inothewayurthinkin, while also proving effective on the Flat through Royal Ascot winners Quick Suzy and Snellen.
For a market in which the best point-to-pointers are increasingly expensive, Cromwell’s Arqana spend is another sign that leading yards are looking earlier and wider for horses with Grade 1 upside.
