Pure Alpha delivers again as Ardrossan continues to rise

It was a great result for owner Ozzie Kheir at Eagle Farm on Saturday, with his Ardrossan gelding Pure Alpha powering home to win by 1.29 lengths. Trained by Tony Gollan, the six-year-old carried 58.5kg over the 1600m from barrier six, and true to form, used his lightning gate speed to bounce out and lead the field from go to whoa, never looking troubled as he crossed the line well clear.

Bred by Lib Petagna’s JML Bloodstock, he is the first foal of the Written Tycoon mare Bridgewater, making this the full brother to triple Group 3 winner, Ardalio. From the first crop of Ardrossan, Pure Alpha has accumulated over A$300,000 in prizemoney. He was a private purchase for Ozzie Kheir, having not been offered through a yearling sale.

A son of Redoute’s Choice, Ardrossan enters his eighth season at stud, and from limited opportunities in his early days is producing phenomenal results. He strikes at 8% stakes winners to runners; to place this in perspective, Savabeel‘s was 10.9% while in Australia, the 2025/26 Champion Australian Sire, Zoustar, is 6.6%.

This year, his yearlings sold for up to $450,000, with trainers and breeze-up traders battling it out in the sale ring. Traders at the yearling sales were clearly looking to capitalise on his rise in the competitive international Hong Kong racing jurisdiction, where he strikes at 61.5% winners to runners, or eight winners for 13 runners.

Ardrossan has had to do it the hard way, commencing stud duties in 2019 just as COVID-19 was about to hit the economy. He’s proven he’s worth his weight in gold and will stand this season at $20,000 plus GST.