Written by Jessica Owers
Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Cranbourne hosted an extensive program of trials on Tuesday, one that saw many of the spring’s biggest names resume for the new racing season. Among them was the undefeated 4-year-old mare Passive Aggressive (Fastnet Rock), who has a perfect picket-fence of four starts, four wins for her local trainer Grahame Begg.
Passive Aggressive was appearing for the first time since her victory in the Listed AR Creswick S. at Flemington on June 18. The mare lined up in heat four with the dual Group 2-winner Forgot You (NZ) (Savabeel) and Peter Moody’s Zoustar horse Lightsaber, a winner of the G2 VRC Sires’ Produce S.
Passive Aggressive galloped away to win her trial by 4.5l with regular jockey Jordan Childs, posting 59.48s for 990 metres on a Heavy 9.
“She trialled beautifully,” said Begg, chatting with TDN AusNZ. The former Sydney trainer was on his way to the Widden Valley later in the day to visit his stallion, the G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Written By.
“She’s had a bit of a break since her last-start win in the Creswick, and she’s had a bit of down-time at Balnarring beach. We just ticked over with her down there and she’s come back to the stable in wonderful condition. I’m very, very happy with her and she’s gearing up to run in the Cockram S. at the end of the month.”
Passive Aggressive has gone through her career seamlessly to date.
Grahame Begg | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Her maiden appearance was a Cranbourne trial about this time last year, which she won, and since then she’s gone through a winning maiden at Werribee, a winning Class 1 at Pakenham and a winning appearance at Flemington.
These three races led into her debut stakes victory in the Listed AR Creswick S. in June. According to her trainer, she’s done it all effortlessly, including her reappearance on Tuesday.
“She had a lot of residual fitness, but she does it all so easily,” Begg said. “She goes through her gears nicely and she’s very quick out of the machines. Jordan Childs was never really asked to do much on her. He sat against her, slipped her a little bit of leather the last 300 metres and she strode away.”
“She (Passive Aggressive) goes through her gears nicely and she’s very quick out of the machines. Jordan Childs was never really asked to do much on her. He sat against her, slipped her a little bit of leather the last 300 metres and she strode away.” - Grahame Begg
The G3 Cockram S. is at Caulfield on August 27, a set weights and penalties affair for mares four years old and over. Begg has tailored Passive Aggressive’s program according to this target.
“We’ve got to be mindful that she’s running in a Group race in a few weeks’ time, so that was the reason she was in a 990-metre heat,” he said. “It was just to keep her fitness levels right up because she’s got to be super-competitive as far as fitness is concerned going into a stakes race against mares.”
The female of the species
So far, Passive Aggressive has won her four races by a combined 9l, and on each occasion she’s carried Jordan Childs.
For her trainer, as good as she is, she’s an as-yet untapped option in a long line of good horses he’s had, which includes the likes of Written Tycoon, Secret Admirer (Dubawi {Ire}) and Our Egyptian Raine (NZ) (Desert Sun {GB}).
Passive Aggressive, winner of the Listed AR Creswick S.
“We don’t really know how good she is because she hasn’t been challenged yet,” Begg said. “She seems to do it very comfortably, and certainly if she keeps on progressing the way she has, she’ll reach the top level.
“The obvious target with her is to keep her winning, but we aren’t out for a long and arduous spring. There are lots of nice races along the way, but we’re probably going to keep her at the sprint distances.”
Begg mentions the G2 Bobbie Lewis H. in mid-September, a quality handicap in which his mare would be well-treated. Passive Aggressive is also handy up the straight six at Flemington.
“There’s that, or even the Gilgai (G2 Gilgai S. on October 1), so there are a lot of races open to her, and if we wanted to be super-conservative we could keep her against the mares,” the trainer said. “We’ll let her tell us where the level is.”
Passive Aggressive is raced by the Pinecliff Racing operation of Jonathan Munz and, once finished, she’s an obvious addition to Munz’s GSA Bloodstock banner.
The mare was purchased for Munz by Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock at the 2020 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, plucked from the draft of her breeder, Cressfield Stud, for $500,000.
Passive Aggressive as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
She has an enviable pedigree, being a daughter of the Group 3-winning mare Miss Judgement (Strategic), herself a daughter of the four-time stakes-producing blue hen Miss Jakeo (Unbridled’s Song {USA}). It makes Passive Aggressive a full sister to the G3 Percy Sykes winner Missrock (Fastnet Rock).
“She’ll be a lovely broodmare option when she’s done,” Begg said. “Obviously, some of the black-type pressure is off already, but there’ll be more go on to keep that record intact and keep her winning. But she’s very exciting.
“The thing that takes me about her is the way she goes about everything. She’s so professional in her manner. She jumps, bounces and travels beautifully, but like I said, she hasn’t been in a high-pressure race yet. We don’t know she’ll react to that, so that’s something that’s coming up down the track.”
“Obviously, some of the black-type pressure is off already, but there’ll be more go on to keep that record intact and keep her (Passive Aggressive) winning.” - Grahame Begg
Begg makes no secret of the fact that at home, Passive Aggressive is an ornery character.
She will bite and kick anyone in sight, something that the trainer’s staff have had to be very careful about. However, that can often be the way with exceptionally talented and aloof race mares.
“She’s got a bit of attitude, let’s just say,” the trainer said. “You’ve got to keep your guard up every time you go near her, but we work our way around that and we keep everyone’s arms and legs intact. I think she knows she’s a bit special, but outside of that I think she’s wonderful.”
Nonconformist on-song
Begg’s morning of trials didn’t start and end with Passive Aggressive. Earlier, he watched the return of his Caulfield Cup runner-up, Nonconformist (Rebel Raider).
The 6-year-old gelding, a winner of the G2 Alister Clark S. and G3 Coongy H., won the G3 Naturalism last spring, which led nicely into second-place finishes behind Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in the G1 Caulfield S. and Incentivise (Shamus Award), ultimately, in the Caulfield Cup.
At Cranbourne, Nonconformist led home his stablemate, Lunar Flare (Fiorente {Ire}), by 1l over 1190 metres in 1:15.62.
“I’m really happy with the way he’s come back,” Begg said. “He’s getting ready to run in the Memsie S. in two-and-a-half weeks’ time, so we stretched his legs out over 1190 metres. He went through his gears nicely, even though he’s better over the ground.
“The track today had some heavy rain on it, but we’re thrilled with the way he’s returned. He hasn’t raced since the Caulfield Cup, but the way he’s shaping up, he seems to be ready for a very good spring.”
Best of the rest
The rest of the morning saw winning trial-returns by the likes of Zouzarella (Zoustar), a winner last spring of the Listed Atlantic Jewel S. at Moonee Valley.
The 4-year-old mare was last seen in the G1 William Reid S. in March when she unplaced behind September Run (Exceed And Excel), but she was slick on Tuesday morning, coasting away by 2l for her trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman.
For the Ciaron Maher-David Eustace yard, 5-year-old Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) showed she was in good fettle after her autumn win in the G2 Sapphire S. at Randwick. Piloted by Jaime Kah, she zipped away in her 800-metre open trial to post a 2l victory over Star Patrol (Starspangledbanner), the latter a runner-up to Passive Aggressive in the Creswick S. when last seen.
Additionally, a number of big names appeared in heat six, a similar open trial over 800 metres. The dual Group 3 winner Generation (Snitzel), also for the Maher-Eustace string, won by 1l, pipping his prolific stablemate Away Game (Snitzel) in 45.47s, fractionally quicker than Bella Nipotina.
