William Reid Stakes (Group 1)

AT the ninth last meeting before Moonee Valley’s shutdown for a A$2 billion redevelopment, Jamie Mott, riding the Zoustar colt Schwarz, claimed the Group 1 William Reid Stakes on Saturday.

Given the ride by trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton, Mott led most of the way to have an established advantage leading into the straight. Strong to the line, Schwarz defeated the Hellbent mare Benedetta and the Per Incanto gelding Jimmysstar.

“At about the 100 metres (I knew he was going to win), they can come quick at The Valley, so you don’t like to celebrate too early, but I really enjoyed the win on this horse.”

A 1.25 million Magic Millions yearling, with Rosemont Stud in his ownership group, the win was Schwarz’s sixth from 12 and franked his win in the Group 2 Australia Stakes over the same course and distance in January.

“He’s the best performed colt by Zoustar there has been and he’s won a weight-for-age Group I,” said Anthony Mithen of Rosemont Stud.

“He’ll go to stud a very attractive prospect. The fact we paid yearling sale price, not the silly money these stallion syndicates put together, means everyone can enjoy that. That’s what this Victorian Alliance was about, giving back to breeders and the breeding scene. It’s emotional for a lot of reasons and God bless him.”

Marhoona strikes Gold in the Slipper

Golden Slipper Stakes (Group 1)

THE Emirates Park home-bred, Marhoona has delivered trainer Michael Freedman a second win in the Golden Slipper Stakes, Australia’s premium juvenile sprint. The 1,200 metre Rosehill Gardens Group 1 worth A$5 million saw the Snitzel filly, the third favourite, win her second race at her third attempt, having just gone down to Tempted at her previous outing in the Todman Stakes.

Whilst the Godolphin race favourite, Tempted, was disappointed for a run at an optimum time, Coolmore’s Wodeton followed Marhoona through and finished hard to miss by nose as Tempted, by Street Boss, got out late to collect third. The Wootton Basset colt Wodeton looks primed for more ground in either the Group 1 Sires’ Produce in two weeks or the Champagne Stakes.

“It’s special,” reflected Freedman on the win. “It’s an old cliche, but these moments are exactly why you do it. We are a small stable and taking on these big numbers in such a competitive environment as Sydney racing, you just have to do the best you can. You know, we’ve been through the ups and downs with the family over a lot of years with these sort of good results and bad results, but this is a huge thrill for my team.”

Having won in 2019 aboard Kiamichi, Damian Lane, who picked up the ride late, was impressed. “She’s obviously been prepped perfectly for this, just peaking on the day. Not often you come up with a plan and execute it perfectly, well in Group 1s anyway. It really played out how we thought it might and she was great.”

Moore to ride Switzerland

RYAN Moore will ride the Coolmore-owned Switzerland in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes on Day 1 of The Championships (April 5th) at Randwick, dislodging James McDonald, who, having won the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes in November on the Snitzel colt, has been unplaced on Switzerland at his two starts this year.

“Everyone knows Ryan is a world-class jockey and we feel he’s a good fit for Switzerland,” said Tom Magnier.

“Chris (Waller) is happy with Switzerland and we do have a lot of faith in this colt, so the TJ Smith Stakes is a very important race.”’

Ranvet Stakes (Group 1)

IT was full circle for Via Sistina at Rosehill on Saturday. Twelve months on after debuting with a win in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes, the Fastnet Rock mare returned to win the race for a second time.

She now has a remarkable record in Australia of 10 starts for seven Group 1 wins. Third into the straight in the six-horse field, she ambled past Lindeman and coasted to the line, making her $1.22 favouritism look generous. Lindeman claimed second, ahead of the Irish-bred Fawkner Park.

“Well, she lit up our lives, as I said, 12 months ago today,” said Chris Waller. “We didn’t know what we had coming out of quarantine and, obviously, we had a good article and a good horse to work with and a very supporting team with Yulong.

“She’s a lovely, big, unassuming horse. But come race day, she really turns it on. We don’t dare light her up in the mornings, because of what she’s capable of, like she’s a real powerhouse.

“Her track rider, Chris Harwood, said, ‘oh, if we get her flying one day she might just keep going’ as we saw. She’s a gentle giant that graces the turf.”

Rosehill Guineas (Group 1)

THE Too Darn Hot colt Broadsiding was nearly undone in the 2,000 metres of the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas.

Having broken clear midway down the straight, the Castelvecchio filly Aeliana ran Broadsiding to a fast diminishing nose on the line, the pair a length clear of the Exceedance gelding Swiftfalcon.

Trained by James Cummings with James McDonald up in the Godolphin blue, the win was Broadsiding’s fourth win at the highest level.

“He’s a class colt and class carries a long way. He’s probably not a genuine 2,000 metre horse, but he’s a brilliant horse, and he’s got up and won the Rosehill Guineas, so fair play to him.

“He’s probably done it the hard way. He’s a really important horse for our business. He’s got a lot of his father in him, and Too Darn Hot would be an incredibly popular sire if he was coming back.”

Twelfth on the General Sires’ table with 75 runners this season, Too Darn Hot has 10 stakes-winners of 15 races from 36 winners.

Harry realises dream

Kia Ora Galaxy (Group 1)

THE final of Rosehill’s five Group 1 races that make up Golden Slipper Day was the 1,100 metre Galaxy. In a field of 13, it was the Harry Angel colt Private Harry that justified his favouritism. Unbeaten now in five starts, having been bought for A$115,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling sale, Private Harry has won a Group 1 at his first Stakes start, providing his 30-year-old trainer Nathan Doyle and his Welsh-born jockey Ashley Morgan also with maiden wins at the highest level.

“That’ll take a while to sink in,” said an overcome Nathan Doyle. “This is what I’ve dreamed of, training racehorses and to be here and to win a Group 1. I still remember the picture I drew my uncle when I was eight years old to show him how many horses I was going to train, but little did I know they weren’t going to be palomino and paint horses. I’ve had this in me from a young age, it’s all I wanted to do.”

For Ashley Morgan, who moved to Australia in 2018, the moment was no less significant. “That’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “When I was 14 as a youngster, I thought it’d happen to me straight away, I’ll have 10 Group 1s before I’m 18. Now I’m 34 and, before this horse came along, it didn’t look like it was in sight. I’m so grateful to everyone, the team and the horse. I gave it a big salute. You get in that moment and it was just pure ecstasy.”

George Ryder Stakes (Group 1)

CIARON Maher and Tommy Berry combined to win Saturday’s Group 1 George Ryder Stakes over 1,500 metres with the Per Incanto gelding Gringotts, who had landed consecutive big money wins in the A$3 million Big Dance and the $1 million The Gong last November.

Second at the top of the straight, Gringotts had to dig deep as the proven Group 1 horses charged at him. To his outside, he had to hold the Tavistock gelding Ceolwulf as the Sebring mare Fangirl closed fast, failing by a short half-head, with a similar margin to Ceolwulf in third.

“He fought hard for this win today,” said Tommy Berry. “Ciaron said to me in the mounting yard, ‘I know the Doncaster is our main aim, but I couldn’t have him any better for today’. He turned up and he’s just a warhorse.” Gringotts is now on the second line of betting for the A$4 million Doncaster Mile on April 5th with four others.

With a maiden Group 1 win to his name, Gringotts has won 10 of his 20 starts being unplaced just twice.

New Zealand

New Zealand Oaks (Group 1)

THE red ink quote of $1.30 suggested an easy win, though it was nothing of the sort for Leica Lucy in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks over Trentham’s 2,400 metres on Saturday.

Trained by Robbie Patterson and racing in the familiar colours of Ozzie Kheir after a partnership deal was brokered with Leica Lucy’s owners Peter and Heather Crofskey, the daughter of the Hinchinbrook horse Derryn found a good run through but was chased all the way by Dubai Gold.

The Pride Of Dubai filly went down by a half-length to the favourite as the War Decree filly Myakkabelle took third.

“This is my biggest win by a mile, to tell you the truth,” said Patterson. “The Oaks is a great race, the owners Peter and Heather are close friends of mine, and my parents are here today as well, so it’s very special.

“I’ve been saying this filly is the best I’ve trained, and she’s totally that. She’s just a beautiful animal.”

Leica Lucy will now head to Chris Waller in Sydney with a record of five wins from six starts. She is presently the second favourite for the Australian Oaks behind Treasurethe Moment.