Baroque Road takes out Magic Millions 3YO and 4YO Classic
Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s progressive Baroque Road (Caravaggio {USA}) made it three on the bounce in Saturday’s Magic Millions 3YO and 4YO Classic at Ballarat. The lightly raced 4-year-old, ridden by Jamie Mott, defeated Stupendo (Supido) and A Little Deep (Deep Field).
Mott told Racing.com, “I jumped Baroque Road out two weeks ago and he was quite impressive, and I came here full of confidence. He handles soft ground which is another tick.”
Baroque Road was a $100,000 purchase by Dynamic Syndications and Dean Watt Bloodstock from the draft of Coolmore Stud at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Baby Rider enjoys Randwick festivities
Last seen running fifth in The Beauford at Newcastle, Baby Rider (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}) picked up his first Australian victory in the Listed Max Brenner Santa Cup on Saturday at Randwick.
Finding the breeze outside of public elect I’mintowin (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}), Rachel King timed her run to perfection, taking the favourite and building an unassailable margin to hold off King Of The Castle (NZ) (Castledale {Ire}) and Wineglass Bay (Ire) (New Bay {GB}).
Trained by the in-form Bjorn Baker, who last week tasted Group 1 success with Overpass (Vancouver) in the G1 Winterbottom S., the 6-year-old gelding picked up his fourth win with his 0.6l success.
Winner for Frosted written in the stars
James Cummings took 2-year-old son of Frosted (USA), Pisces, out to Kembla Grange for his first look at a racecourse, and he was able to secure a narrow maiden win under the urgings of Koby Jennings.
Sent out as the second elect for the Godolphin operation in public markets, Jennings was able to let down the colt down the expansive straight, narrowly getting over the top of the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Madrina (Street Boss {USA}).
The win of Pisces gives Frosted his 60th Australian winner.
Rivals envious of Preusker gelding in Ballarat Cup
Amidst winteresque conditions, Captain Envious (NZ) (Savabeel) powered through the Heavy 9 surface to claim the Listed Ballarat Cup for trainer Paul Preusker.
Given a quiet ride at the back of the field, jockey Michael Dee collected plenty of stray mud as the field ambled along, before pulling out and unleashing with a powerful finish.
The turn of foot was enough to go straight past Young Werther (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), who encountered some bother when Just Folk (Magnus) shifted out into his running line.
Paul Preusker and Captain Envious (NZ) after winning the Listed Ballarat Cup | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
Captain Envious is now a stakes winner, and has enjoyed a successful preparation, finishing no worse than third, and also collecting the Murtoa Cup in October.
Race favourite Foxy Cleopatra (American Pharoah {USA}) failed to handle the conditions, settling at the rear of the field and finding herself unable to make headway in a race dominated by those with wet-track affinity.
Pearce brothers Perth Cup fantasy continues
Comeback galloper Black Fantasy (Blackfriars) stamped his G2 Perth Cup ticket with a dogged victory in the Listed GA Towton Cup at Ascot on Saturday.
Sent to the lead by William Pike, the 5-year-old was headed turning into the corner by Neufbosc (Fr) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who fleetingly looked like he was going to break a winless streak approaching 1100 days.
Enter a vigorous ride from Pike, who regained the lead and denied stablemate Queen Alina (Mahuta) to stamp his credentials as a genuine Perth Cup contender, giving Dan and Ben Pearce an imposing hand in the 2400-metre handicap.
Having faced a 15-month layoff after winning an RTG78+ H. in July 2022, the Listed Aquanita S. and Listed Belmont Classic winner was able to add a third black-type win to his impressive resume.
While Black Fantasy shapes as one of the key Perth Cup contenders from the local contingent, he may face stiff competition from the likes of Zoumon (Zoustar), who will look to bounce out of his midfield finish in the G1 Northerly S. when stepping up in distance.
Coffey and McEvoys dominate first three
Ballarat’s showcase day was dominated by the locally based Tony and Calvin McEvoy, with the father and son duo training the first three winners on the card, all ridden by Harry Coffey.
Calvin and Tony McEvoy | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The trio combined to score the opener with the 3-year-old filly Sunset Dreaming (Impending) and then secured a dominant victory with the smart juvenile Arabian Summer (Too Darn Hot {GB}) in the featured Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic. The team then secured success with Give Giggles (NZ), a 4-year-old daughter of War Decree (USA).
Mercurial books Group 1 tilt
Underrated sprinter Mercurial (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}) booked himself a ticket to the G1 Sistema Railway at Pukekohe with a tenacious all-the-way win over the same course and distance on Saturday.
A ballot exemption for the New Year’s Day feature added extra value to the NZ$65,000 Happy Milestone Birthday David Ellis, and it was Mercurial who stood up and took advantage.
The 5-year-old jumped from the second-to-outside gate in the small field and was sent forward by jockey Craig Grylls to take the lead inside the first 100 metres. He was soon joined by the high-class mare Bonny Lass (NZ) (Super Easy {NZ}), and the pair had the race to themselves from that point on.
“I’m rapt with that performance,” Mercurial’s trainer Stephen Marsh said. “He was so determined and tough and got the job done really well. He really rose to the challenge.
“This race carries a ballot exemption for the Railway on New Year’s Day. Coming into it, my thinking was that if he could put his hand up today and be competitive against a good sprinter like Bonny Lass, we should have a crack at the Group 1. He’s definitely done that with a very good win, so we’ll press on and run him in the Railway. Why not? He’s earned that opportunity with such a good performance today.
“We don’t have a rider booked for the Railway yet, but I’m hoping a few jockeys might be putting their hands up after that win today.”
Waller’s Victorian presence to grow?
The shocking announcement by Racing NSW that racing and training will cease at Rosehill in the future has its biggest tenant the Champion Trainer Chris Waller options outside of the state. Waller flagged provincial training centres such as Pakenham, Cranbourne and Ballarat as options.
“I just think there is so much to think about and it makes me think about Victoria a lot and how well the infrastructure is down there,” Waller told RSN927’s Saturday Raceday.
Chris Waller | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“Little tracks like Pakenham, you’ve got some really good young trainers down there that have invested in their own properties, some maybe renting, and they’ve basically built up something that they own and the industry owns.
“Then you’ve got Cranbourne, that’s getting bigger. Ballarat’s gone from a dark, cold place to a vibrant training centre, which pumps out a lot of winners.
“I think the big thing is a trainer needs an asset at the end of the day and we’ve got properties but don’t have as much skin in the game as I’d like, so there’s so many pros and cons.”
Sweet result for Justify
The progeny of Justify (USA) continue to turn heads across all pockets of the globe, with 2-year-old colt Valentine Candy (USA) an authoritative winner of the Advent S. at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
Finding a prominent position in the early stanza of the race, the striking chestnut grabbed control of the race when turning to greet the judge, extending powerfully to win the 1100-metre race by 6.7l for trainer Steven Asmussen.
“Steve didn't give me any instructions. (Valentine Candy) is a nice horse. I just had to guide him,” rider Ramon Vazquez said in the aftermath.
Super performance by former Australian resident
Formerly trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, I Am Superman (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) broke through for his first win since the G2 Ajax S. in March 2021, winning on the all-weather surface at Dundalk.
The gelding, who has raced in four countries and three continents across his career and is now trained by Michael O'Callaghan, took out the 1600-metre contest in emphatic fashion.
It marks his best performance since returning to the Northern Hemisphere, he'd previously put in a bold showing at Meydan in the G2 Zabeel Mile. The win is his seventh success across 38 starts.
Sire of sires, WinStar Farm's Champion Speightstown euthanised
Speightstown (USA), Eclipse Champion Sprinter in 2004 and among the leading sires of the past 15 years, had to be euthanised Friday, December 8, due to foot issues from old age, WinStar Farm announced in a press release Friday. Speightstown, a Taylor Made/WinStar stallion, was 25 years old.
Speightstown (USA) | Image courtesy of WinStar Farm
“Speightstown was a foundational sire for WinStar and helped stamp our legacy as a sire-making farm,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “I want to thank Larry McGinnis and his team for all the love and care they gave “Speighty” as he was lovingly called. They helped him through three colic surgeries, and he had none in the last 13 years. His progeny ran on dirt, turf, six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, and they always showed their grit. Like with any family member, he will be truly missed. We are fortunate to have his son Nashville in the shedrow, and we look forward to seeing Speightsown's legacy continue through him, and as a broodmare sire.”
WinStar's longtime Stallion Manager Larry McGinnis said, “We've been through a lot together in the last 19 years. We'll miss our friend.”
'No panic yet' – Arqana boss optimistic about ending the year on a high
Arqana boss Freddy Powell says he is optimistic the sales company can end the year on a high as leading vendors Gwen Monneraye of la Motteraye and Charles Brière of the Fairway Consignment reported strong footfall on the eve of the breeding stock sale.
The sales figures for the breeding stock sales in Britain and Ireland took a dip on the whole this year.
However, while Powell agrees that Arqana is not immune to the struggles facing the bloodstock industry as a whole, he outlined French premiums, Brexit, and the strength of the euro as some of the reasons why he expects the middle to lower tiers to hold up over the next few days.
Freddy Powell | Image courtesy of Arqana
He said, “We are yet to have a bad sale this year. Touch wood, it continues. It has been a bit of a strange year for the bloodstock industry in general. We are lucky that, when the market is getting patchy in other places, we have a system in France which helps to keep things together a little bit better.
Powell added some reasoning into why Arqana has been resilient in the face of the market correction in the bloodstock industry, “Brexit has also changed the dynamic for some buyers. Buying in euros is quite a good selling point to people from, say, Australia, America and Japan. Also, the French horses have been doing really well in recent years. This year we had Paddington and Ace Impact and people can recognise that.”
Breeding right in Blue Point to be auctioned on Darley website
Another breeding right in Darley's standout first-season sire Blue Point (Ire), who is already fully booked for 2024, will be auctioned on their website on Wednesday, December 13 to Thursday, December 14.
The son of Shamardal (USA) has been represented by 51 individual winners so far and is the sire of a pair of colts to strike at the highest level–G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere hero Rosallion (Ire), and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Big Evs (Ire). His tally of stakes winners stands at five, and he has an additional quintet of black-type performers led by GI Natalma S. third Dazzling Star (GB).
The 9-year-old's 2024 fee was listed at €60,000 (AU$90,100) at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
