A famous football name could be on Sunday's racecard at Naas as Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho is the part owner of a €450,000 racehorse.
The Michael O'Callaghan-trained Olivia Maralda is set to make her racing debut in the Group Three Coolmore Stud Fillies' Sprint Stakes ahead of a potential tilt at Royal Ascot next month.
She races in the colours of AMO Racing but O'Callaghan confirmed on Tuesday that the two-year-old filly is partly owned by Coutinho, the former Liverpool and Barcelona player now plying his trade for Aston Villa in the Premier League. Steven Gerrard's side host Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Sunday.
Olivia Maralda was a €450,000 purchase out of a Breeze Up sale.
“She cost plenty of money but I think she’s a decent filly. The soccer player, Philippe Coutinho, owns half of her. They’re trying to get the registration sorted in time so his name appears on the racecard,” O’Callaghan explained.
“We’ll see how she works during the week but I wouldn’t be concerned about pitching her in at Group Three level on debut.
“I think she’s going to end up at that level on her second start anyway, so I wouldn’t be worried at all. If everything goes to plan, we would be looking at bringing her to Royal Ascot for the Albany,” he added.
The driving force behind AMO Racing is Kia Joorabchian, a football agent who represents Coutinho.
Sunday's race has an illustrious pedigree in terms of past winners. The subsequent 1,000 Guineas winner Mother Earth won the five-furlong event in 2020. The 2012 winner Sky Lantern did the same, while Alpha Centauri in 2017 went on to land four Group One prizes as a three-year-old and be crowned Horse of the Year in Ireland in 2018.
